Danny Phantom Reveal (Oneshots)
by DanaGone
Summary: This book contains different stories on how Danny's identity was revealed whether it be in school, by his parents, accidental or forced reveals. Be ready for new adventures every chapter! Warning: Slow Updates Copyright Butch Hartman. All characters in this book do not belong to me. I simply only own the plots!
1. Table of Contents

**A/N: Here are all the different stories I will be writing in this book with the name and description. ****By the way, most of these happened before Phantom Planet (so it basically doesn't exist) However, I will specify if the story happens to be after it :) (BTW I DON'T APPROVE OF PHANTOM PLANET)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom. I simply only own the plots**

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**1.** The school goes into lock-down because of a ghost. However, Danny can't change because he's forced to stay in his English classroom. To avoid suspicion, Danny and his friends stay in the classroom, hoping someone is taking care of the disaster. Paulina suggests they play "Truth or Dare" and that's where things go downhill. **(Completed)**

**2.** Danny's secret is revealed by no other than Vlad, on the news. However, most people don't believe him even when Vlad tries to connect the dots together. That doesn't stop the school from starting theories and discussions. Sam and Tucker tell Danny to lay low so it doesn't drive suspicion. How long is it till Danny's secret is finally revealed? **(Completed)**

**3.** It's April Fool's day, and everybody's pulling pranks on each other. Danny decides to play a prank but then Dash and Kwan decided it would be funny if they play a spray paint prank on him back during lunchtime. Whispers roam around and everybody's confused. Danny wasn't expecting it. Could it be? **(Honestly, I feel like they would still be oblivious that Danny Phantom is Danny Fenton but let's just pretend they aren't dumb) ****(Completed)**

**4.** Somehow, somebody was able to photo-shop and leak a photo of Danny Fenton in a Danny Phantom costume. Danny panics and his friends help him find out who the culprit is without raising suspicion. Could the students of Casper High finally recognize their hero?** (Again, probably not) ****(Completed)**

**5\. **Danny's parents somehow manage to catch phantom's blood sample and discover that he's actually a halfa! Knowing he could be a human boy, they aren't hunting him anymore and are quick to announce it on the news. It's winter, but that doesn't stop them from researching and when things get a tad too close, Danny must do something to prevent himself from getting revealed. **(Completed)**

**6.** When Phantom is now announced as also a teenage boy, he's forced to go to Casper High. Danny is met by swarming fans, confused teachers and cameras being pointed every single minute. It's going to be hard and even though Danny can duplicate in order to keep Danny _Fenton_ from getting caught, how long will that last without people start to put two and two together? **(Completed)**

**7.** Danny is captured by his very own parents and they're demanding answers. They created a lie detector so when a question is asked, he has to answer truthfully. What will he do when the questions start getting a _bit_ too personal? **(Completed)**

**8\. (This takes part in the episode 'Mirco-management)** Danny and Dash were so close to getting his father's ghost invention but Danny switched back to his human self and wasn't able to hide his identity. Dash is shocked but they have to put aside confrontations and focus on the task at hand now that they're both human, running away from a crazy ghost hunter. Will they survive? And most importantly, will Dash keep Danny's secret or share it with the whole school?

**9.** After Danny saves his parents and his friends' parents by Freak-show, he's greeted by love and worry. He decides to not erase their memory and destroys the gauntlet. After all, he can deal with a couple of fans, but what about the G.i.W? How will things be for Danny now? **(Completed)**

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**A/N: The thing I've noticed with some of these story plots have been taken and I feel like I'm copying someone else even when I'm not. But rest assured, the plot might sound the same but the story really isn't as it's in my writing style. Hopefully, that explains better. **

**Word Count: 717**


	2. Chapter One: Truth or Dare

**Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom. I simply only own the plots.**

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"Damn man. You look terrible!" Tucker exclaimed worryingly as Danny and his friends walked to their next period class, forcing their legs to continue the long journey.

Danny was indeed exhausted. After the box ghost managed to escape him three times and Skulker came back with new weapons, he barely got any sleep. All Danny wanted to do right now was ditch school and take a well-deserved nap. To make things worse, he didn't finish the literature assignment Mr. Lancer had assigned to him two days ago. He was sure that his typical excuse wouldn't work this time.

"Jeez, thanks Tuck. That makes me feel so much better," Danny sarcastically said, earning a comforting hand squeeze on his shoulder by Sam.

"Look at the bright side, Danny! We can get to class earlier this time!" The goth brightly stated, trying to cheer up the half-ghost boy.

Although that fact was assuring, Danny knew it wouldn't last long. It never does. He was one hundred percent sure that a ghost would have to interrupt the moment of tranquility he barely got these days.

"I doubt it. I'm going to try to be more positive though. I got three detention slips by Mr. Lancer this week alone! Doesn't he have better stuff to do than torturing his students? And the thing I hate the most is that guys like Dash get away with stuff like this _all the **damn** time._ Like, I'm sorry for protecting this town from ghosts," Danny grumbled angrily, sighing as he took out his books from his locker.

"Why don't you tell everyone your secret then? Wouldn't teachers be more lenient with you and gain respect from our classmates?" Tucker asked as the group walked to class, ignored by the rest of the students.

"Um,_ hello?!_ The guys in white chasing the ghost boy every chance they get? My parents wanting to rip me apart molecule by molecule? I'm honestly surprised with myself that I haven't required therapy yet. Do you guys even know the feeling where your parents want to get rid of you? _Every. Single. Day,_" Danny exclaimed as a blue mist suddenly escaped his mouth, earning a sigh from his two best friends.

"So much for arriving early to class today," Sam murmured as Danny signaled to them to head to class without him and he quickly dashed to the washroom. As he was about to open the door, a certain buff blond bumped into him.

"Watch it, fenturd," Dash snarled, earning a tired sigh from Danny as he ran into an empty stall. He stopped himself from yelling out his battle cry and forced the blue rings to form around his waist, transforming him from top to bottom. Once Danny was sure that nobody was in the washroom, he turned invisible and slipped by the bathroom door.

Danny searched down the busy hallways when suddenly, the bell rang and the students scattered to their homerooms. The halls were now empty, not a ghost in sight. Danny decided to just go back to class after seeing that there wasn't a ghost nearby so he wouldn't get yelled at when suddenly, he's hit by an ectoplasmic gun.

"Long time no see, whelp!" a familiar voice growled, slight amusement in his voice. Danny turned around, holding his bruised shoulder from the sudden impact.

_Great. Just what I needed,_ Danny mentally said before shooting an ectoplasmic ball back at one of Skulker's mechanic wings. _Didn't he try destroying me yesterday? How much time does he have in his hands?_

"Brought new weapons this time?" Danny asked dryly as they continued to fight, the atmosphere getting thicker by the minute. Skulker then used one of his new weapons to target Danny with a high energy shot. This caused Danny to crash onto the science classroom door, his shoulder coming in contact with the heavy door.

"I'm glad you noticed. I've added some new features to it in just a day. Like it?" Skulker asked smugly, ready to deliver another blow when Danny quickly turned invisible before striking him from behind, destroying yet another newly designed weapon.

"Did Technus update it for you? It's so 1.0," Danny smirked as Skulker glared, trying to get a hold of himself when he's suddenly sucked into a familiar thermos.

"Thanks, Tuck, for the save! I didn't know how much longer I can take him, I'm exhausted! How did you manage to get here anyway? You have class!" Danny questioned, earning a grin by Tucker.

"I asked for a bathroom pass, it wasn't hard. I wasn't going to leave you to fight that crazy ghost hunter alone man. Speaking of which, Mr. Lancer is in a bad mood today. You better take a minute or two to think of a good excuse," Tucker stated seriously as he left, heading to the washroom before tossing Danny the thermos.

Danny quickly caught it and floated back to the ground, transforming back to his human self. He stuck the thermos in his backpack and took a moment to think about the situation he's in.

_What crud luck. I'm tired, Skulker managed to fire a hard shot on my right shoulder, and I don't have an excuse as to why I'm late,_ Danny grumbled mentally to himself, before heading to his classroom.

Danny reluctantly entered the room, facing his bored classmates. Some were fidgeting with their school supplies while others were throwing paper balls just to annoy their friends. Danny made eye contact with Sam for a brief second before turning to face an angry-looking teacher.

"Mr. Fenton, would you care to explain to me as to why you're late to class for the third time this week?" Mr. Lancer asked, his voice laced with annoyance. Danny opened his mouth to defend himself then closed it, hoping an idea would suddenly pop in his head. To make things worse, the whole class was quiet now, some whispering while others watching attentively.

"I-um well, you see, I was walking in the hallway when there was a ghost attack and this ghost hunter- and _Phantom_ appeared. I couldn't move because I was blocked and they were fighting furiously and all so..." Danny explained, making sure to leave the unnecessary bits out. The thing that makes this story so believable is that there was an actual ghost attack in the school and he has the dents by the science room to prove it.

Mr. Lancer sighed, somewhat tired from everything and Danny stared at him, not able to blame him. The class was a mess and everybody was fooling around. If he didn't make a move now, Mr. Lancer's was going to snap and the blame would be put on him.

"Mr. Fenton, this is your_ last_ warning-"

"Hey, I'm sorry- I won't be late tomorrow, or ever actually but like you know, can't prevent accidents that were meant to happen. Anyway, consider a change to happen starting Monday," Danny stuttered and hurriedly scurried to his desk in the middle. _Or starting never,_ he added mentally.

Sam gave him a glance asking 'Are you okay?' as Danny nodded, silently signaling her that everything's been taken care of. A couple of minutes passed by and Tucker got back to class, taking his seat beside Danny's.

Mr. Lancer got back to his lesson, talking about Shakespeare and one of his stories as Danny yawned, clearly not interested. Tucker then leaned towards Danny's desk, eager to ask him a question that's been on his mind for a long time.

"Hey. How did it go with Mr. Lancer?" he whispered to Danny.

"Not that bad actually. I expected him to lash out on me but he surprisingly just gave me a warning," Danny whispered back, as Tucker sighed, looking at the board solemnly.

"Not for long."

"Wait, why-" Danny whispered confused, turning to look at where Tucker was staring. The realization then dawned on him when Mr. Lancer started talking about the homework due today. Danny didn't finish his, so he quickly grabbed the blank crumpled sheet from his purple backpack and started answering the questions quickly. However, they weren't easy and seeing that Danny didn't read the story, he had no idea how to answer them.

He then felt a gentle poke on his right and turned to face Sam, who was waving her sheet of paper in front of him.

"Here. Copy mine-" and just when she was about to hand him the completed homework paper, Mr. Lancer strolled by his row, eyeing him curiously.

"Mr. Fenton, may I have your homework paper please?" he asked as Danny sighed, knowing he won't be getting out of this quickly. Nervous as ever, he was about to hand him the crumpled piece of paper when he realized he doesn't even have his name on it. All there was, was a numbered list where the answers were supposed to go while everything else on the sheet seemed blank and had pencil stains caused by hand smudges. Too embarrassed, he came up with the simplest excuse.

"Well, I did do it but I forgot it at home. I'll make sure to give it to you by the beginning of Monday," Danny said as Mr. Lancer sighed tiredly, glaring at the boy.

"Mr. Fenton, this is unacceptable! You've been failing your studies, coming in late and not finishing your homework. What's the meaning of this? Some might say you have a second life or something," Mr. Lancer exclaimed, unimpressed with the boy's lack of responsibility.

_Oh, you have no idea._

Danny opened his mouth to speak but he found no words. It's like his mind had shut off. Unable to reply, he slumped in his seat, staring at his fingernails while his classmates snickered.

Oh if only he can transform right now in front of him and show him the reason why. They would have surely understood. One move and he wouldn't have to deal with this anymore. One move, and he'll finally earn the respect of his classmates. One move, and he won't have to worry about revealing his secret identity anymore.

But Danny stayed put, resisting the urge to transform this second.

"I'm sorry," he finally said, his voice quiet and full of hopelessness. Mr. Lancer shook his head, not knowing what else to say before continuing onto the row and collecting the rest of the homework.

Mr. Lancer never understood why Danny was so far behind in his classes. He knew Danny was smart and he could do well if he had someone to push him. But it wasn't laziness. He was sure. But he didn't know what else was causing the boy to act like this.

_And I never will understand,_ Mr. Lancer sighed sadly before walking back to the front of the classroom and continuing with the lesson.

* * *

The bell finally rang, signaling the end of the class as the trio quickly gathered their stuff, eager to exit the stuffy classroom. Literature was boring, as usual, but Danny was feeling worse than before and the snickering of his classmates wasn't helping the least. All Danny wanted to do was go back home and have a long nap with no interruptions by any ghosts. It's like an impossible wish nowadays.

The students were about to leave the classroom when a loud alarm interrupted, causing everybody to freeze. Not knowing how to act, everybody whispered among themselves, discussing the possibilities.

"Students and staff of Casper High. We are currently under attack by some unknown yet powerful ghost. Not until Danny Phantom or the government's ghost hunters arrive, all students are required to say in their homeroom classes and not leave until further instructions are provided. Be safe everyone!" The intercom closes, causing the panic of the students to rise.

As if on a signal, a blue mist escaped Danny's mouth, causing him to be more alert of his surroundings. He turned to face his two best friends as they nodded, silently telling him that they'll take care of his identity when he's gone.

_So someone powerful, huh? That could only be one person-_ Danny is about to lunge for the door when Mr. Lancer grabs his arm, preventing him from doing so.

"And where do you think you're going, young man?" Mr. Lancer asked, raising own of his brows as Danny stopped, noticing that this won't be an easy task.

"Well, um, I need to go to- to the washroom! Yeah," Danny quickly replied but to no use, as Mr. Lancer pushed Danny back to the classroom, placing him on an empty chair. Sam and Tucker noticed this, trying to think of a way out. After all, they couldn't just sit here and watch.

As the class goes into theories on how Phantom will save them, Danny, Sam, and Tucker huddled in a corner, brainstorming ideas. Danny can't just turn invisible and disappear or that will be suspicious. However, he can't stand by and do nothing. He still doesn't know who this ghost is and for all he knew, he could've hurt tons of people by now!

"Why are you so nervous Fenturd? Scared the box ghost will come here and give you a scare?" Dash joked, earning a high-five by Kwan. Danny rolled his eyes by the irony of that sentence.

_Wasn't he just panicking with his friends minutes ago?_ Danny stated mentally, trying to force himself not to grin in front of Dash. The least he needed right now is for Dash to wail on him.

Fifteen minutes passed by and no sign of Phantom. Mr. Lancer tried to calm the class down but they were all worried. One question was swarming in their heads.

**Where is Danny Phantom?**

"Why don't you just duplicate yourself?" Sam asked as Danny shook his head sadly.

"I can't. I'm still practicing that trick. And even if I do manage to hold it for some time, I won't be as powerful when facing this ghost we still don't know about. Half of my energy will be here in this stupid classroom. Ugh, what am I going to do now?" Danny panicked as his friends sighed before diverting their attention to the front. Mr. Lancer decided to turn on the news and everybody had quieted down.

"We can see here that some of the best ghost hunters are working together to fight this evil ghost. We still don't know it's motives or why it decided to haunt a high-school specifically, but we will soon. He is referred to as the 'Wisconsin Ghost' and decided to come here to Amity Park. Why? We don't know but that's not the only question we're asking. **Where is Danny Phantom?** This is Lance Thunder, speaking from the weather channel." The rest of the screen just showed Vlad Plasmius fighting off the ghost hunters without even trying. It looked like he was enjoying this!

_"Plasmius!_ I should've known," Danny hissed under his breath as Sam stared angrily at the screen responsible for the cold aura radiating off of her friend.

"Doesn't he have better stuff to do rather than terrorizing a bunch of high-school students? You were right about him being a fruitloop Danny," Sam uttered, earning a chuckle from Tucker.

"Well, what're we going to do then? We don't even know the real reason why he's here, for heaven's sake!" Danny growled as Tucker scanned his PDA, looking for something he can use to figure out Vlad. But to no use.

"I can't figure out how we can help at the moment. The only choices we have are either exposing you and everyone finding out about your secret, or you going against Mr. Lancer and getting into deeper trouble after," Tucker said, stating the facts as Danny sighed.

I guess we don't have a choice then. Okay, guys, wish me luck," Danny finally said, deciding to follow the second choice. There was no way he was going to reveal his secret, the situation wasn't that serious. He was in trouble anyway and Vlad has to be handled as soon as possible. Whenever Vlad is around, it's never good. Danny knew he had something under his sleeves.

Danny ran to the door, not wasting a minute before turning the knob. The next thing shocked him though. _The door's locked!_

_Someone must've locked the door from the outside,_ Danny thought as his friends quickly rushed behind him, trying to budge open the door but no luck.

"Well, I guess we're doomed to staying here or revealing your secret," Tucker stated before pulling over a chair and taking a seat. Danny and Sam followed his actions, finally out of ideas.

"And I thought having a sleepover with Paulina is the worst thing that can happen," Sam muttered to herself as the two boys chuckled. Tucker's face then changed into a surprised expression and he pushes his PDA towards his two friends. At first, they were confused but then their eyes grew big when they read the headline and further down the bold text.

"So he's looking for Danny Phantom to challenge him? Why though?" Sam asked as Tucker took back his PDA, reading further into the news page.

"Well, he said that Danny Phantom is secretly his son and he wants to talk but Phantom's hiding," Tucker read, his face growing serious by the second. Sam shook her head while Danny glared at the device, not believing what he was reading.

"Is he nuts?! No wait, he is but like, _what the hell!_ **His son?** He can forget it! What good is going to happen when he says that anyway, other than the curious media. I need to-" Danny got up, his face furious when his friends pushed him down, trying to calm him down so the rest of their classmates don't get suspicious.

"Danny, you can't go, remember? Plus, Vlad is trying to get to your nerves so you'll expose your secret. He knows how incautious you can get when you're mad. Take a deep breath," Sam explained, forcing Danny to take a deep breath and calm down.

"Sam's right, man. Vlad knows you won't join him and that you'll manage to find a way to prove you're not his son. Let's just take a break from all this and see what the class is up to at the moment, " Tucker suggested, earning a nod from Sam as they pulled their chairs to their class huddled in a big circle.

"I wonder where Phantom is. It's not usual from him to not appear in time," Mikey thoughtfully said as the rest of the class nodded in agreement.

"Well, I say we play a game to forget about all this. My skin's starting to get oily from all the stress. Truth or dare anyone?" Paulina suggested as the class agreed and Dash turned to face the trio.

"You guys in? Or too worried about the ghosts?" Dash grinned earning a frown by Danny.

"Oh, _I'd love to,_ " he retorted back, joining the group as Sam gently grabbed his hand hesitantly.

"Danny are you sure about this? This game isn't suitable for you, especially in your current situation, " she said worriedly as Danny grinned, pulling her and Tucker beside him.

"Oh come on guys. It's just a game. Plus, you're the ones who suggested I do something that takes my mind off, remember?" Danny stated before turning to look at Dash, his face darkening a bit. "Plus, I wanna prove to Dash that I'm not just some wimp he can mess around."

Sam sighed in defeat, taking her seat beside Danny. She had a feeling something wrong would happen but she didn't know what. Meanwhile, Tucker went back to playing his games on his PDA, not paying attention to the current game going on between his classmates.

"Okay then let's start. Kwan pal, truth or dare?" Dash asked, as everybody turned to face Kwan.

"Dare"

"Hmm okay I dare you to..." Dash said before turning to stop at Mr. Lancer. He grinned, facing Kwan again. "Dump some water on him. I'm going easy on you since you're first."

"But I'll get in trouble!" Kwan exclaimed but sighed in defeat when the class continued to stare at him, waiting for him to do it. He got up with the water-bottle in his hand, unscrewed, before going up to Mr. Lancer and dumping the contents in it.

"_Rip Van Winkle,_ what do you think you're doing?" Mr. Lancer exclaimed, his face angrier than before. Kwan went back to them with a slip in his hand.

"Thanks for the detention slip Dash," Kwan grumbled as the next person proceeded.

"Truth or Dare, Paulina?"

"Truth"

"Who do you have a crush on?" someone asked as Sam rolls her eyes. It couldn't be too obvious who it is. Paulina sighed dreamily, blushing a little and gazing at the sky outside the window.

"The ghost boy! Is he cute, _or what?_" she stated obviously as everybody nodded in agreement, not questioning why. Everybody loves Danny Phantom. Girls dreamed of dating him while guys hope in winning the best friend spot. However, Sam and Tucker both knew that wouldn't happen any time soon.

The game went on, some sharing embarrassing moments while others completing dares. Just then, Tucker's face got pale.

"D-Danny. You need to see this," the techno-geek stuttered, shaking Danny's shoulder.

"Not now Tuck. It's almost my turn!" Danny excitedly said as Sam leaned over Tucker's shoulder, taking a look at what was making her friend so nervous. She was curious as to why he was so worried, she knew it was only hospitals that made him react like that.

"Oh no," she quietly said, her face paling too. That got Danny's attention as he faced his two worried friends in worried curiosity.

"Oh come on guys. What's wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?" Danny asked, not liking the look his two best friends were giving him. Tucker then stuck the PDA in Danny's face, making sure he read every word under the video that was being played. Danny then took a look at the video when his eyes go wide at the unexpected news.

_His father._

He was now held captive by Vlad. Maddie was hopelessly trying to free him but Vlad was too strong. Vlad was now warning Danny that if he didn't come out in the next ten minutes, he'll destroy him. Of course, everybody was confused. Why was Vlad Plasmius using Jack Fenton as bait? Was he close to Danny Phantom?

At that moment, Danny's face went pale as a ghost, almost close to the shade of newly print paper. He tried to make a move but his hands weren't moving. They were cold as ice and it wasn't his powers that were acting up.

_"Danny. Danny? **DANNY?**"_

"Huh, what?" Danny finally turned his head back to his confused looking classmates. He wouldn't say anything for two minutes straight and they thought something was wrong with him.

"It's your turn. Or are you going back?" Dash smirked as Danny blinked blankly a few times before shaking his head.

"No, no, I can go," he said as he turned to face his worried friends. Danny couldn't think properly at the moment, the only person in his mind was his father. Vlad wouldn't dare hurt him, would he? I mean, sure he tried killing his dad before but that's before they met. They had a truce! He just can't-

Danny wasn't going to test that theory. He needed to act, **fast**.

"Truth or Dare?" someone asked, interrupting Danny from his train of thoughts. Everybody can see that Danny was worried about something but no one decided to question it.

"Truth," he responded immediately, ignoring the curious glances of his classmates.

"Tell us your biggest secret, " Dash said snickering, expecting something embarrassing. Danny froze and so did his two friends, unable to speak. What was he supposed to say? Of course, he can always lie and say something else just so they can get what they want but... _should he?_

His father's life was at risk and if he didn't get out this very minute, his father might die. If he doesn't reveal his secret right now, everybody's life will be in danger. Is it worth it? _Is it?_

Danny was in a tough situation. Everybody was now silent, waiting for him to say something-_anything_. The silence was killing them. He looked over to his friends, asking them to help. They knew what he had to do.

There wasn't a choice now. Danny took a deep breath. This is it. He would tell them and then get out of the school to save his father and defeat Vlad.

"Mr. Fenton, are you okay?" Mr. Lancer asked, his face deep in worry as he looked at the black-haired teenager. Danny was wearing a weird expression that nobody could quite tell. It was indeed frightening. He held the hands of his two best-friends, squeezing them for comfort.

"Well, I have this big secret that nobody knows of except for five people. Sam, Tucker, and Jazz being three of them. I haven't told this to anyone else and I'm forced to say this because of the current situation," Danny explained, looking at his classmates for a brief moment before continuing. "A couple of months ago, my parents created this ghost portal where it can reconnect to the other side of the earth- specifically the ghost zone. Sam, Tucker and I decided to explore it since it wasn't working anyway. I went in, wearing a white hazmat suit that Sam managed to convince me in doing."

The class was listening attentively, noticing Danny's serious look. Whatever he was telling them, it wouldn't be funny.

"I pressed on the 'on' button by accident inside the machine. My molecules got all mixed up and when I came out, I wasn't Danny _Fenton_ anymore," Danny said before closing his eyes and letting the two blue rings wash over him. "I was now Danny Phantom, a half-ghost."

Danny waited a couple of seconds before finally opening his eyes. To say the class was shocked is an understatement. The class looked like they've just seen a ghost! **(pun not intended)** Everybody was whispering, not believing their own eyes. They tried convincing themselves that it was just their brains playing tricks on them, but they knew the truth now.

**Danny Fenton is Danny Phantom.** That wasn't a question.

Finally, after an eerie silence, Mr. Lancer spoke.

"Lord of the flies, now that makes more sense!" he exclaimed as everybody slowly nodded in agreement. The constant tardiness, him being tired all the time and always appearing at the right time, it all made sense now!

"I know you guys have a lot of questions right now but I need to go. Like _really,_" he said as Mr. Lancer nodded understandingly, motioning him to fly out the window. Danny held both of his friends by the waist and flew them to where the crime is taking place. He still had four more minutes.

* * *

**A/N: So that's the end! I worked pretty hard on this story and I hope you guys liked it! If you guys aren't satisfied with the end, I might make it longer but for now, it's gonna stay like this.**

**Word Count: 4 740**


	3. Chapter Two: Vlad's Plan (P1)

**A/N: Hey everybody! Glad you decided to continue on :) Here's your update for today! This one is pretty long, by the way, took me about three days of continuous writing. Don't worry, the other chapters won't be as long as this one :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom. I simply only own the plots.**

* * *

It was just an ordinary day at Amity Park. The sun was shining, birds were singing and everything seemed pretty fine. It's as if it were just any normal small town.

Well, if you count the ghosts coming in and out of the Fenton's portal, then it wasn't that 'normal'. They enjoyed coming to Amity Park and causing mischief. From trying to conquer the world to performing harmful pranks on humans, they found it as a source of amusement and authority. It was something they enjoyed. Well, at least _most_ of them anyway.

Danny Phantom. Amity Park's hero was currently battling a technology ghost, planning to take over the world with his power over electronics. People awed as they saw their hero deliver a couple of outstanding moves along with some sarcastic remarks, before sending him to the Fenton thermos. The usual. By now, these daily ghost attacks were normal. Everybody looked forward to them because that meant seeing the ghost boy.

"I'll come back ghost child!" Technus yelled wickedly as he got sucked in the thermos. Danny securely closed the thermos before smiling. That was the last one for today and he couldn't wait till he got back home.

The media took this as a chance to huddle around Danny Phantom and question him about the bits of the fight. The reporters knew how much people were looking forward to the news tonight, especially if it involved a certain half-ghost.

_"Who is this technology ghost?"_

_"Tell us, what powers do you usually use?"_

_"Where are these ghosts coming from?"_

_"Why do you protect us humans?"_

_"Danny Phantom! I love you!"_

Danny tried to ignore the swarming questions being bombarded at him as he lifted himself from the ground and flew to search for a vacant place. However, it's pretty hard to find one with helicopters chasing behind your tail. So, Danny decided to turn invisible before flying near a dark alleyway and transforming back. The blue rings formed from his waist, reverting himself to his black raven hair, icy blue eyes, white and red shirt along with light oversized jeans.

"Well, today was a busy day," Danny murmured, to no one in particular. He walked outside, just to see the fans running towards the direction to where they _thought_ Phantom was located, but no luck. It's as if he disappeared from the face of the earth. Everybody wondered, where did Phantom go? Did he have a place to call home? A family?

Danny smiled, seeing how the whole town is starting to like him and see him as a 'hero'! Well, except for a few people. The red huntress still held a grudge against him from the time he let 'his dog' loose at Axion's lab, while the Fenton's never particularly liked ghosts from the beginning, convinced they were evil 'things' that didn't have any emotions. That left the government agents, also known as the guys in white, wanting to perform painful experiments to the ghost boy every chance they got. The good thing is, they'll never really manage to catch him. Especially now that he's known as a hero to many people around the world.

"I think I saw him go that way," Dash exclaimed, pointing to the direction leading to the arcade and pizza parlour. Paulina shook her head in response, crossing her arms in disagreement.

"No, no. I'm sure I saw the ghost boy go _that way_," she said, pointing in a different direction as the fans scattered all over the place, eager to find the _invisible_ ghost. Everybody wanted the honour of meeting him and taking a picture with him to show off to their friends. He was practically a celebrity. Heck, _even_ celebrities were a fan of him!

Danny decided to walk back home, hoping to decrease the amount of attention he's getting. Although his house was pretty far from here, it was a beautiful day, perfect for a walk. Danny couldn't imagine the last time he had experienced such tranquillity. Why not use this chance to do what any _normal_ teenager would do?

Without a warning, Danny's phone rang from the inside of his jeans pocket, signalling a call from his best friend, Tucker. Before Danny could pick it up though, he noticed something strange in the street he was walking in.

Everybody was on their phones, their faces held captive in the bright device. It was like they were waiting for something shocking to happen and afraid that'll they'll miss something important if they left for even a millisecond. Of course, being born in the twenty-first century, everybody would be on their phones, but this was _different_. Strange and not normal. But again, when was Amity Park _ever_ normal.

The whole block was listening to what seemed to be a live news video. Although Danny couldn't tell what it was or why people seemed interested in it, he decided it was best to ignore it and open the door to his front house, completely forgetting the missed call by his best friend.

The house smelled of fudge, which was typical considering his father enjoyed junk food and anything associated with sweets. He walked to the kitchen, checking out what they were having for dinner today, his stomach growling in process. He then remembered that he didn't have lunch today because he was 'fighting' the box ghost the whole time. His teachers weren't much help in the situation either because they didn't let him eat in the classroom without an explanation. But what was he supposed to say? I'm sorry, I was busy dealing with some annoying ghost? Ha, _yeah right._

It was a Thursday, meaning tomorrow was Friday and the weekend was right around the corner. That didn't give a reason for the ghosts to take a break though. However, today seemed somewhat calmer than usual and Danny was convinced that nothing can ruin this day. Nothing_._

"Mom? Dad? I'm home!" Danny announced, figuring they'd be proud since he usually comes later at night. His curfew was at ten but he surprisingly managed to complete his ghost duties before then. That was a relief and Danny planned on going to sleep earlier today. When was the last time he slept at nine pm? Probably before he got his ghost powers even. However, Danny rarely complained about it. If it meant keeping his hometown safe, so be it. If he wouldn't protect them, _who_ would?

"Come here, sweetie! Look what's on the news!" Maddie excitedly exclaimed, paying close attention to the working television in the kitchen. Danny curiously peeked in and when he found out his parents were too busy with the ghost stuff instead of making dinner, he sighed and walked to the refrigerator to prepare something to eat. Sleeping on an empty stomach wasn't going to help him in any way, shape or form, especially since he needed the energy to fight ghosts all the time.

Danny took one quick look at the refrigerator before cringing at the first thing he saw. There was _lots_ of stale Fenton toast and he didn't seem too fond of adding anything appetizing to that particular type of bread, so he settled with a banana. Simple yet full of energy.

"I'll be off to sleep now," Danny announced, peeling the skin of the banana, before taking one big bite. He didn't think they'd hear them so he was surprised by his parent's following actions. His father quickly looked back at him before grabbing onto one of his shoulders and pushing him forward to face the bright working screen.

"Danny boy, you've got to see this! This is about the ghost kid," Jack Fenton explained before diverting his attention back to the screen, hoping he didn't miss out anything important. Whatever it was, it seemed like everybody was excited and Danny's curiosity got the best of him. Sleep can wait. Everybody was acting weird ever since and he wanted to get to the bottom of this. After all, it did involve _him_. Well, _half_ of him anyway.

However, Danny couldn't keep his eyes open. They were begging him to shut down and finish for the night. Danny decided to listen to his eyes for the first time as he got up and walked out the kitchen door without uttering a single word. He was sleepy and fighting it won't do him any good.

As Danny descended up the stairs to his room located on the left, he remembered something important. He forgot to call Tucker. He was so confused about the citizens of Amity Park that he didn't realize he had a bunch of missed calls.

Three from Tucker and five from Sam. The number of times they called him made him frown with unease. Were they in trouble? Did they need his help and he wasn't here to deal with it? Of course, his friends were capable of taking care of themselves but there are still powerful ghosts out there. And the Fenton Thermos might not be enough.

Worry and anxiousness filled his throbbing head as he quickly pressed the call button, begging someone would pick it up. He called Tucker first, knowing the techno-geek always had his PDA with him everywhere he went.

When all Danny received was a voicemail, his heart started beating faster as he forced himself to call his goth friend. He waited and waited, hoping that he'd hear the voice of _one_ of his best friends pick up and tell him everything's fine but no luck. Today was doing so good and he should've known better than to jinx it.

Danny tossed his phone carelessly on his bed, rubbing his temple before sighing out loud. He couldn't take it anymore. He _had _to see them, even if it was for a split second. He had to make sure they were okay and that nothing had happened to them. If anything happened to them, he knew it would be all his fault. It was his duty to protect every person, most importantly, his friends and family.

Just as he was about to transform into Danny Phantom, his cellphone rang, indicating an incoming call. He stopped what he was about to do and ran to it, afraid the sound would stop and he wouldn't hear it again. With his hands still shaking, he picked it up without reading who the dialer was.

"Hey, man-hey why do you sound like you've just run a marathon?" His best-friend questioned from the other side of the line.

"**TUCK!** _You scared me!_ Don't do that _ever _again. Why did you and Sam call me? Why weren't _you_ responding? Why wasn't Sam responding? Did something happen? _I swear_ I'll go kick this ghost's butt!" Before he knew it, the teenage ghost was spilling questions everywhere at his friend who was getting confused by the second.

"Okay, okay _calm down_! I was taking a shower, you don't expect me to bring my PDA in the bathroom, do you?" His friend questioned as Danny stifled a laugh.

"I mean, you're capable of it..." He replied as his friend rolled his eyes even though he couldn't see it. Give it to Danny to make a comical remark in serious situations.

"Second off, Sam's grounded so she can't use her phone or any technology, for the matter of fact. I wanted to talk to you about something important but that can wait for school tomorrow," his friend explained as Danny sighed heavily, feeling relieved and somewhat confused at the same time.

"No, no, I wanna know _now_. Does this have something to do with the recent news everybody's been interested in, regarding me?" Danny questioned, demanding he get a full explanation.

"Yes but let's wait till tomorrow. You sound pretty tired, plus we have a science test tomorrow that you should probably study for, " his friend finally said, before quickly hanging up on the line. Danny just stared at his cellphone in confusion, not knowing what to say.

He so badly wanted to go on a new tab and search for the news everybody was talking about but didn't feel the energy too. Heck, he didn't even have the energy to study for the science test he had tomorrow. He knew that if he searched up the news right now, he'll spend lots of time thinking about it and end up sleeping at midnight, which is _not_ what he wanted. He promised himself that he'll take some time to rest and he can start by taking a good nap.

So Danny finally agreed to go to sleep and not think much about it. After all, how _bad_ can it possibly be? His friends might be overreacting and making this a big deal. It's probably about a rumour that the ghost boy has a secret sibling or a girlfriend or something of such sort.

However, deep down, Danny knew something was terribly wrong, and he'll find out about it tomorrow. After he gets a good night's sleep.

* * *

Danny walked to school the next day, his eyes glowing bright blue. Everybody noticed something weird about Danny. He looked more..._cheerful_. It's as if someone sprinkled magic dust on him the night before or something. Although nobody knew the reason _why_ he was acting like this, his friends had some idea.

It's no surprise Danny had a good sleep yesterday. It was written all over his face. The way his eyes sparkled or how he smiled more often was enough evidence for the pair to arrive at such a conclusion. It even looked like the bags that were forming under Danny's eyes have finally begun to disappear.

"Well, someone's in a good mood," Sam teasingly said, as she watched her friend take out his books from his locker and shut it, not minding how weirdly everybody was looking at him.

"I guess I just feel a bit energized, " Danny replied, taking an apple from his backpack and munching onto it casually. Though his friends were glad that Danny finally felt good in a while, they couldn't get rid of the nagging feeling inside of them that forced them to ruin the teenage boy's mood. The news could've been any other day yet it decided yesterday would be a perfect time, in sync with Danny's happy mood.

And Danny noticed how they tried to fake their smiles. Although Danny was sure they were happy for him, he was also sure that there was something wrong, that his friends wouldn't tell him about. Sam and Tucker wouldn't stop shooting weird glances at each other, both of them not wanting to ruin the boy's mood. He was finally happy and the stupid news couldn't just come in and ruin it.

_"Should we tell him?"_ Tucker whispered to Sam nervously as she sighed, fidgeting with her black and green striped skirt.

_"We have to, we don't have a choice. He would figure it out sooner or later and we have to be there when he does. You don't know what can happen,_" Sam whispered back as Danny shot them another confused stare.

Danny didn't like the look his friends possessed. They looked worried about something like they wanted to say something to him but they just couldn't. He knew it had something to do with the news yesterday but why did it seem so bad? I mean, everyone else seemed excited and happy, starting with the students of Casper High. At this point, it was annoying him, and he wanted nothing more than to find out.

"Guys, what's wrong?" Danny soberly asked but when they wouldn't say anything, he grabbed their arms and dragged them to the storage room, where they held their secret meetings at. Danny thought that maybe they couldn't say anything since there were people around but here, it was just them.

"You have two minutes before the bell rings. Spill," he demanded as Tucker gulped, trying to avoid making eye contact with him, while the goth just scratched her arms nervously, glancing at Danny now and then. Twenty seconds have passed by and the pair made no effort in saying _anything_ to Danny. He glared at them before taking out his phone, an idea forming in his head.

"If you guys don't say anything for three more seconds, I'll leave and read what's been worrying you guys, _alone_," Danny warned, unlocking the password to his phone before opening up Google and showing them the screen. Sam and Tucker knew that he was being serious.

"One..."

"Two..."

"Thr-" his friends quickly interrupted him, grabbing the phone from his hand.

"Fine, fine! We'll tell you, jeez. So that's why ghosts enjoy fighting with you," Tucker murmured as he pushed Sam, motioning her to talk.

"Well, yesterday, when you finally finished off Technus and we took care of the box ghost, the news said that someone was joining us that would be giving valuable information about the ghost boy. He seemed pretty serious about it, like it was some sort of villainous plan. We couldn't quite tell who it was because he was wearing a black hood to hide his face, but his voice was really familiar. The dangerous thing though, was that he was about to reveal your secret identity," Sam finally spat out, looking up to see Danny's face paling.

Indeed, he was worried. _Just how much did they know?_ Who was this person and why would they do something like that? Sure he had enemies but what would they gain from doing such? He knew it was something bad but not this much! That explained the excitement in everyone as they were finally about to figure out their hero's identity!

"That's not all," Tucker added, earning a frustrated groan by Danny. "He was busy yesterday and he said he would tell us the information today! He was pretty serious about it too and said he had enough evidence to prove it. We were hoping you'd visit him yesterday but you seemed tired."

"_Guys, _**_this is serious!_** If I'd known _yesterday_, I would've been less worried and had a chat with this _'mystery person'_. We could've figured out who it was by now and already talked with him. And the fact that I had to force you guys to tell me right now makes me even more **irritated**," Danny exclaimed, clenching his fists, ready to blast the first ghost that showed up right now. His friends noticed this as they looked at him with nothing but guilt, but said nothing.

"But," Tucker trailed off as Danny looked up at him, waiting for him to continue. "We kind of figured out who this mysterious person is. Yesterday actually, with the help of myself, of course."

"Who?" Danny quickly asked, eager to find out the culprit. He knew it had to be a ghost because they were the only ones who knew about his secret. Plus, the fact that this person was being shady made things even more suspicious.

"_Vlad Masters,_" the two said at the same time, earning a shocked yet angered expression by their friend.

"**That fruit loop?!** But _why_?! Doesn't he know I can expose him too? What's he going to gain if he tells everyone my secret? _Money?_ He's already rich and can easily get some if he wanted to! _Fame?_ He's known as a billionaire _for heaven's sake,_" Danny yelled furiously, angry that his arch-enemy would do such a cruel thing.

"We honestly don't know and that's why we're waiting for you to pay him a visit," Sam explained as Danny nodded, calming himself.

"Okay, I'll go during lunchtime. I can't waste any more time," he said as his friends nodded in agreement, the school bell ringing at the same time. His friends exited the small room, comforting Danny and telling him everything will be alright.

"How did you guys even manage to figure out it was Vlad?" Danny asked confused, the thought of it flashing in his head. Tucker grinned, smiling at his PDA while their goth friend rolled her eyes.

"Sweet ol' technology," Tucker said and that was all the conformation Danny needed.

* * *

"You got everything ready?" Tucker asked, earning a nod by Danny.

They were all currently in Danny's parent's lab, loading the specter speeder with ghost equipment such as the _boo_merang, specter deflector and some other ghost weapons they thought would help them. Vlad was a dangerous man and you can never predict his moves, just like in chess. He was sneaky, forming evil plans day and night though Danny was sure he did other normal human stuff too. Although Danny managed to beat him continuously, he was not someone you wanted to mess around with or get on his bad side. He has the power to make someone's life hell if he wanted too with the snap of his fingers. That was speaking from experience, the time Danny decided to play a little prank on him.

_Right when the bell for lunch rang, his friends told their parents they were 'going out for lunch' and that they'll come back just in time for class. Danny told them that there was no need and that he can take care of himself but his friends insisted that they do. They wouldn't let their friend go to some crazy Fruitloop's house who also, by the way, wanted him as his evil apprentice, tried killing his father and hooking up with his mother. It was too dangerous._

_"Guys, you need to eat your lunch, honestly I'll be __fine,_ _" Danny had said the moment they left school property._

_"You haven't eaten lunch for three days and are lecturing us about our diet? Yeah, not happening," Sam stated annoyingly as he rolled his eyes before transforming into Phantom and picking both his friends up._

_"Plus, I got us food. You need some calories, Sam needs to eat her veggies and most importantly, I need my meat. I can't live a single hour without my daily feeding," Tucker stated as he patted his backpack, showing them all the food they needed was in there. Danny smiled softly, seeing how much his friends cared for him. He couldn't wish for better friends._

_"Of course you can't. But I don't think there's a bathroom to where we're going..." Sam trailed off, jokingly teasing him as Tucker scoffed, crossing his arms just to hide his embarrassment._

_"Says the one who eats grass and soil for lunch," Tucker scoffed as Sam glared at him, not liking the choice of words he was using to describe her lunch._

_"Says the one who's eating animals for lunch when they're meant to be free," Sam replied, earning a cold stare from Tucker._

_"Says the one who-" before Tucker can complete the sentence and have an argument breakthrough in the middle of the air, Danny coughed loudly to bring back their attention._

_"Guys, _**_please._ **_Remember the last time we had this discussion? Let's fix this situation and then you guys can start another riot," Danny dryly said, rolling his eyes at his friends as they sighed, remembering their current situation. Before any of them got to say anything, Danny quickly landed them to a safe spot near the FentonWorks before reverting to his human self._

_"Come on, let's go! We need to head to my parent's lab," he said, forcing them to tag along._

And so here they were, finally finished packing the necessary equipment needed for the quick trip.

"Hey, where's Jazz anyway? Surprised she didn't mention any of this stuff to you," Sam asked curiously as Danny sighed sadly, remembering his loving sister.

"She's at this college open house for one week. I think it has something to do with showing the students around the campus and such. You should've seen how happy she was when she first got their booklet, mentioning the many libraries it included. She was about to burst into tears of joy," Danny chuckled, smiling at the memory of his sister. Yes, he missed her _a lot_. No matter how pushy and protective she got, he cared for her and missed her and that's when he realized he needed her sometimes. She was his older sister after all, and just because he had ghost powers didn't mean he didn't need her help or support. He couldn't wait till Monday to see her again.

"You miss her, don't you?" Sam asked softly, smiling as Danny nodded, noticing he spaced out for a pretty long time.

"Yeah, it's pretty quiet without her in the house," he jokingly said, as he got into the Specter Speeder, reaching out a hand for his friends to take and get in.

"Should we tell her?" Tucker asked, referring to all the events that occurred in the past twenty-four hours, as Danny shook his head.

"_No_. The least we need right now is for another good mood to be ruined. I called her yesterday morning and she seemed pretty content right now. I don't want her to worry, better yet, freak out when we tell her we're visiting Vlad right now. She'll book the first ticket back here as soon as possible. I'm being serious here," Danny said as he noticed his friends giggling and he couldn't help but smile.

"Okay well then, let's go. Wait, um, how do we know he's in Wisconsin? He could be anywhere since that rich jerk has mansions all over the place. We can't go through all of them with this much time left," Sam explained, showing him her wristwatch as Danny's face lit up, an idea forming in his head.

"I think I know how we can figure out where he's staying," he mischievously said before getting out of the ghost vehicle and running upstairs to the kitchen floor. After a couple of minutes, he came running back down, a neon pink sticky note in his hand.

"Last month, he gave my mom his phone number," he said disgustedly, handing them the untouched paper. Of course, his mother didn't bother calling him but it didn't get thrown out either. He thought he might've needed his phone number in case he felt the urge to annoy him. He was glad that he did keep it.

"Ew, can't he take the hint your mom isn't interested?" Sam shuddered, looking at the pink paper like it was some sort of contagious bacteria.

"Apparently _not_. He's a _fruitloop_ after all," Danny stated, shivering slightly in response. The man seriously needed therapy. He should've used internet dating or better yet, gotten a cat to keep him company. He did live _alone _after all.

"Wait, I think I know where you're getting at. You want us to call and have one of us keep him company so he doesn't hang up while _I_ trace the call using my PDA. Smart," Tucker explained thoroughly, preparing his device as Danny grinned.

"Correct, except for one thing. We can't have one of us call him or that'll be too _suspicious_. He'll definitely know we're planning something. We'll use the device my parents created to translate what ghosts say, and make it sound like some sort of commercial or something," Danny explained, as Sam smirked, cracking her knuckles.

_"So prank calling? I like it"_

* * *

They spent ten whole minutes laughing. Whenever they called Vlad, they wouldn't get to complete one full sentence before bursting into laughter. The good thing was that Tucker managed to track his location so they didn't waste much time. Vlad was getting irritated by the second and what angered him the most was that he didn't know _who_ was calling him.

"Vlad's smart, but he can be clueless sometimes," Tucker stated, still working on the location as Danny and Sam grinned in agreement.

**"This is internet dating for old men. Would you like to register?"**

**"We heard you're lonely. Wanna hook up with some sexy women today?"**

**"This is Petsmart's. Care for a pet, perhaps a cute kitten to keep you company?"**

The pranks were endless and in the end, Danny was afraid they could've gotten caught. However, he just smiled toothily, knowing he didn't care if Vlad found out or not. Right now, the PDA will just take them to wherever Vlad goes.

"Ready guys?" Danny asked as he unlocked the Specter Speeder.

"We sure are," his friends said at the same time, still grinning from the pranks they did earlier.

* * *

"Okay, I take that back. Vlad _isn't _a billionaire, he's a **_trillionaire_.** How much did he spend on all this?" Tucker gasped, his face laced with shock as he explored the outside of the mansion. To say Vlad was rich is an understatement. He was _loaded._ But to be fair, he started his business career by cheating on people.

"Looks can be deceiving," Sam replied dryly, sighing at the gold and green exterior of the mansion. The man was obsessed with the Packers team. One of three of his obsessions he couldn't buy no matter how much money he had.

"What's the point in having all of this money and not being happy? Sometimes, I wonder if he's happy with his life, excluding the fact that he can't have my mom," Danny stated as he took the hands of both his friends and turned them invisible. They would have to face him sooner or later but for now, he wanted to remain invisible in case there were any anti-ghost attacks. Vlad was predictable when it came to traps.

"Must be sad, man. I mean, yeah money can solve a person's desires and needs, but it can't buy _family nor friends,_" he stated as his friends nodded in agreement, slipping through the huge thick entrance doors and to the front foyer.

"Apparently, he thought money can buy my mom," Danny mumbled to himself, sighing as they slipped by another door, one that led to the untouched guest rooms. Danny didn't know why Vlad bothered having guest rooms if he never had company over.

Tucker's PDA was now beeping at a quicker pace, meaning they were close to him and that's when Danny decided to remain quiet. Vlad's surprise traps were the _least _he needed right now.

"Woah," the trio murmured as they passed by the man's private study. It was bigger than the other rooms and decorated with expensive and elegant old-fashioned furniture. There was a bookshelf along with an antique table and an exorbitant laptop neatly placed on top.

"Okay guys, I'm gonna turn visible now. Try to search for any clues on how to access Vlad while I look around the other rooms. If something strange happens, you know what to do," Danny stated, pointing to the Fenton earphones in his ears as his friends nodded understandingly. Tucker went to access the man's laptop while Sam flipped through the books aligned on the bookshelf, pushing them back in their places when finished to avoid suspicion. Danny was at the other side of the room, phasing through the wall to see if there was some sort of passageway that led to a secret domain.

"Um, Danny. You should see this," The techno-geek murmured, pointing to the laptop he managed to find the password to. Danny floated to where Tucker was seated while the goth followed curiously to see what disturbed the boy so much.

"**Ew, what the heck Vlad!**" Danny growled, shielding his eyes from the laptop's bright pink and purple background. There were photos of his mom _everywhere_ he clicked and the techno-geek was afraid to look each time he clicked on a new link or document. Who knew what _other_ photos he had. Danny didn't even want to know where he got them from so he refrained himself from asking the question. His curiosity can wait.

"I mean, he practically _stalked_ Danny for who knows how long, and then tried to clone him so I'm honestly not _that_ surprised," Sam said, gagging a bit when Tucker clicked on another document, filled with pictures of Danny's mother.

"Okay, I don't think we'll find that much here. We need to get to his laboratory where he kidnapped and kept me in once," Danny explained as Tucker nodded, quick to close the laptop shut.

"I cannot unsee this," he stated, shuddering as he pushed himself up before rubbing his aching temple. The man was seriously crazy if he thought Danny's mother would leave Jack and come join him. Everybody knew Maddie and Jack were in love with each other, dating back to their college days.

"Has your dad considered creating a memory machine where you can erase disturbing images?" Sam asked casually as Danny shrugged, checking the other folders to see if there was anything else that led to the secret lab.

"No, and I don't want to. It can be dangerous if it's held in the wrong hands, especially my dad's," Danny replied as Tucker nodded in agreement.

"When has your dad ever created something that didn't mess you up?" he said as Sam chuckled but then shook her head and took out the boomerang that was hanging by her hips.

"Except for this one. And the Fenton Thermos if it's not in Jazz's hands," she said, smiling at the memory of Danny getting stuffed into a thermos for two whole hours.

"Oh my god, that was _so_ funny!" Tucker exclaimed as he started laughing, grabbing his stomach from impact. Danny frowned, still annoyed by that particular day as he gave him a cold glare.

"There aren't any bullies here to stuff you into lockers but I'm still in my ghost form," Danny warned darkly as Tucker immediately stopped laughing, earning a satisfied smirk by Danny.

"You gotta admit, Tucker's right. It was funny-but before you say anything, let's get out of here and search somewhere else. This place is starting to give me the creeps," Sam said, shivering at the creepy statues hanging near the fireplace as the two boys nodded in agreement. The place was indeed unpleasant and not somewhere someone, even a horror fan would consider living in. Danny gently picked up his two best friends by the waist and phased them through the locked door and into the dark hallway.

The trio was nearing, and they knew sooner or later, they'd come across their arch-enemy. Danny decided it would be safe now to turn visible since they were close to him but he took precautions regardless. He then placed his two friends gently on the ground, hovering only a couple of inches above it

"You know, if he weren't such a crazy jerk, I wouldn't have minded using his interior design," Sam said absentmindedly, admiring the Gothic wallpaper used in the hallways and the 19th century furniture matching to decorate it.

"_Are you kidding?_ This place is creepy, man, you said so yourself! I don't know if I'd rather sleepover here or in an abandoned hospital," Tucker shivered, cautiously taking a step backward, preparing himself for something to pop up. Sam chuckled at his behaviour before resting her hand on his shoulder in a comforting manner.

Meanwhile, the young halfa wasn't paying any attention to the bickering going on between his two best friends. He hated to admit it but he felt a bit...anxious. He wanted nothing more than to get this over with and go back home, even if it meant sitting in Mr. Lancer's class. His friends noticed Danny's odd behaviour as they gave him a warm smile, silently telling him that he's got nothing to worry about and that they'll stay by him. Danny felt somewhat relieved he brought his friends with him.

"Okay guys, Vlad's behind this door right to the left," Tucker informed them, paying close attention to his device before pointing at the correct direction.

The first thing they noticed when they entered the unnerving room was the chilly atmosphere contained within it. The trio rubbed their shoulders in an attempt to get rid of the cold air, even Danny who was in his ghost form. The place seemed to look like an office. It had a very old yet strong wooden table in the room with matching antique chairs in front of it. There were bookshelves, filled with many books along with a tall velvet lamp and coffee table to the right of the room.

"Why, hello there Daniel. What a totally _unexpected_ surprise. How are you?" a familiar voice coldly said, turning the massive chair to face the trio. Danny didn't know why, but the man's voice alone sickened him. It made him feel like some sort of prey, like a puppet he controlled.

The mid-forty-year-old man held his signature evil smirk along, wearing his usual outfit consisting of a white oxford shirt, red tie, and matching black dress pants and jacket. His grey hair was smoothly tied in a low ponytail that complimented the man's attire. He held the usual demeanour of arrogance and power, the only thing different being the creature sitting on his lap.

"A...cat? So you _did_ take my advice," Daniel murmured, not helping but let out the grin tugging by the edge of his lips. The man frowned unimpressed, stroking the cat more fiercely, not noticing how his eyes flashed a dangerous red.

"Hmm, why this is my sister's cat. Thought I might do her a favour and take care of it," he merely said, waving off the topic as Tucker raised an eyebrow in amused confusion.

"But you don't have a sister," he said as his two friends giggled while the man just grinned back in amusement, placing the chubby cat on the floor. They watched the white creature scurry past their feet and to the open door behind them without a second glance.

"Ah, so I see I'm not the only one who _'stalks'_ someone, am I right ?" The man chuckled softly, pointing to the door behind them. "However, I'm not able to continue this _lovely _conversation much further no matter how much I enjoyed. I believe you guys have a class starting in what, twenty minutes, hmm?"

"_Plasmius_. We've come to talk to you about the current news. I believe you're aware of that?" Danny calmly said, de-transforming back to his human form, making sure not to instantly rage at the man responsible for his mood being ruined. That earned a shocked, yet faked, glance by no other than the rich man.

"Ah yes. That's why your friends need to be _cooperative_ and leave my office right now so we can...discuss this certain matter," the man replied smugly, pushing himself up from his chair before placing both his arms behind his back. The action was meant to cause intimidation to the two teenagers, however, the reaction was not what the man hoped for.

"**Do you think we're that stupid to-**" Sam quickly inserted, the previous calmness overtook by pure hatred towards the man. He'd already hurt Danny enough and she knew he wouldn't stop till he got what he _wanted._

"Sam, I'll be _okay_. You guys can wait just outside the door if you like," Danny stated softly, gesturing towards the door as Tucker quickly took Sam's arm and dragged her out the door to avoid further disagreement. When both half-ghosts were sure the door was shut by the small _'click' _it made, Vlad dusted the invisible dust on his black suit before taking a seat back, letting his shoulders relax in the seat's comfort. He motioned Danny to the empty seat in front of him but Danny remained standing there with a glare, not wanting to come _any closer_ to the man.

"It's been a long time since we've talked. I missed you, _little badger_," the man cheekily said, earning a harder glare by the boy. Danny never really liked the nickname his enemy called him but he couldn't get him to stop.

"**What's the meaning of this?! **Why are you trying to make my life miserable than it already is, _fruitloop_? What good are you going to benefit from revealing my identity? You know, I can expose you too! We'll see how my mom likes you after that. I know I would _love_ to see her reaction," Danny exploded, his anger finally released but all he received was a light-hearted chuckle. That ticked off the teenage boy even more, encouraging him to continue the rant but the man held one of his hands up.

"Daniel. I had this planned _weeks_ ago, you think this was something I would plan out of the blue? I was expecting this. However, your earlier prank amused me. You should be _thankful_ I decided not to get my deserved revenge," the man said darkly, his eyes flickering red before returning to normal. By the way, the man was looking at Danny, he seemed pretty ticked off by the sayings of the pranks. Danny smirked, knowing that he at least got him mad but he quickly went back to the conversation.

_"But-"_

"Oh _Daniel_, don't you understand? I would benefit _so much_ from revealing your identity. _So much_. Do you really think I came to such a conclusion in one night? But of course, you wouldn't understand,** you never did**," the man said, emphasizing the last phrase before calmly getting up and walking to the bookshelf nearest to him.

_"I don't-"_

"Listen closely Daniel, for I will not repeat this again. What do you think will happen after _I _reveal your identity, hmm? If you haven't realized yet, the guys in white are hot in your trail, not wasting any time when they spot you. Once they find out who you _really_ are, they wouldn't stop till they capture you and take you in for painful experiments, those of which I, which might come out as a surprise, don't want to see you in."

_"Like you'd care-"_

"I'm not finished talking Daniel, don't interrupt me. That's only _one _of the people who wouldn't take your secret _too_ well. Let's talk about the red huntress, **Valerie.** Very determined young lady, hmm? She wouldn't stop till you're dead. Just imagine her shock when she realizes the person she's hunting was also the boy she used to like. Or still likes, actually. Oh, _the drama_," The man continued, faking a dramatic expression before returning to his usual expression.

_"**Wait how did you-**"_

"Ah and let's talk about _your _parents. My _favourite_ part. They're _ghost hunters_, Daniel. _**Ghost hunters**. _You know what that means, don't you? They hunt ghosts for a living, hated them all their lives. I'd know more than you since I've known them the longest. You've heard them yourself, stating how much they want to destroy the 'ghost boy', _multiple _times. Surprised it hasn't affected you that much. Aren't you _hurt?_ What makes you think that they'll accept you, _huh Daniel_? They believe ghosts have _no_ feelings, that they can't feel pain nor love. When they find out their own _son_ is one of the many species they hate, how do you think they'll react? Take you in for a hug? Are you sure they'll accept you and continue with their lives knowing there's a _ghost_ living under the same roof as them?"

_"But-"_

"But, let's say for instance they somehow **_do_** accept you. Hypothetically, of course. How are you so sure they'll look at you the same way they did before? How are you sure they'll remember to cover up their disgust by looking at you day and night for the rest of their lives. Let's say you loathe something _so much_ and then you have to look at it for the rest of your life, pretending _nothing's_ wrong. See the problem in this, _dear boy_?"

"**I don't believe you, Plasmius!** You're doing all this to mess with my brain," Danny exclaimed hotly, pushing the possible thoughts away and focusing on his anger towards the man casually flipping through an old book, a ghost of a smile playing on his lips.

"You know what I'm saying is true, Daniel. Neither your fans, friends or sister will help you get through this. None of them will help to ease the pain you're in when everyone else rejects you, leaving you helplessly alone. _Count my words when I say this._ I'm warning you of the consequences of when I reveal your identity here," he said as the boy growled ready to shoot an ectoplasmic ball at the man. The man was seriously starting to tick him off. _None_ of it made sense, and he knew none of it was true. _That_ would **never** happen.

"I don't have to listen to what you say so save your breath, _Plasmius. Your tricks don't work on me,_" the angered boy growled as the man chuckled, taking a few steps towards him, his face coaxed with amusement.

"You don't have to listen to what I say, Daniel. I'm giving you a choice here. Either I reveal your identity and your town disowns you or..." the man trailed off, the teenage boy still waiting for an answer. He was confused, though he was expecting a catch from this. Vlad wouldn't just reveal his identity without a good purpose.

_"Or?"_

"Or you can join me. Now before you start ranting on how you'll never join me and calling me silly nicknames, listen to what I have to say for _three_ minutes. Trust me when I say this Daniel, it's better for both of us. Think of all the opportunities, the possibilities of having you by my side. I can teach you everything and all you have to do is renounce your idiot father. It's that simple," the man explained, taking another step toward the boy as he took a step back, not wanting to be near the man. He was at this point disgusted with the older halfa, wanting to rip out the ugly smirk off his face. _Did he really think he can sway him with a couple of words?_

"Nice try, Plasmius. You can fool anyone, including the president, but you can't fool me. You _never_ will," the boy said, as the older man shrugged, not affected by the younger halfa's words, taking yet another menacing step towards him. The boy felt alarmed, taking a further step back until his back was touching the purple and black decorated wall.

"_This isn't a joke Daniel._ Either way, you'll come back to me, asking yourself why you didn't join me before. When I do tell your secret, _nobody_, and I mean _nobody_ will approve of you. _No one_ will be able to save you from who you are. You wouldn't have a place to call _home_ anymore when your parents disown you from your house. You'll be lost and come here, knowing I'm the only one who's able to understand you. Whether you choose to believe me or not, it's your choice, Daniel. I'm not pressuring you to join me, I'm just saying it's more likely this would happen," the man finished off as he took another calm step towards the younger halfa. However, Danny at this point didn't know what to say or respond to the man's talk. He wouldn't even move away, even when they were only one meter further apart.

_"T-that's not true. Stop messing with my brain!" _Danny yelled, firing another sloppy shot meant to hurt the older halfa but travelled to his right, hitting the antique chair. The man didn't flinch and took one last step, grinning at the younger halfa. He knew that what he had said was true but Daniel just didn't want to believe it.

"I'm not messing with your brain _little badger._ You know how much I care for you. However, I couldn't just let you continue life without knowing about this first so that when the time comes, you don't get hurt. _Life is harsh_, and was pretty harsh to me ever since the accident," the man said before taking a glance at the little boy in front of him. Oh, how deeply he wanted him by his side, to be his apprentice, and maybe, _maybe_ his son. But the teenager was too stubborn!

_"I-I'll expose you!"_

"With what proof?! How would anyone believe that billionaire, Vlad Masters, being a half-ghost super-villain who fights the ghost boy day and night? Tell me, who would? Certainly _not_ your father, " the man muttered, annoyed by the weak threat the boy used against him.

_"..."_

"I'll wait till five today to get a call with the decision you made. You have my phone number. When you don't call, I'm guessing you want to do it _the hard way_ and I'll go live on the News Channel at six. Your life depends on you, _Daniel,_" The man said as he inched closer and placed a hand on his head, causing him to flinch. However, he didn't make an effort to move back, still processing the information he was given.

_"W-why are you doing this to me, Vlad? Can't we make a deal? I leave you alone and you leave me alone? Why do you always make things so _**_complicated?_**_" _The young halfa yelled, furious by the man's actions as the man lifted off his hand, only to place it on his shoulder. The man dropped to his left knee, looking at the boy's pale blue eyes.

"I'm afraid I cannot, Daniel. I'm giving you time to think about this, _alone_. After all, it's a lot to take in for one day. I'm surprised that thought never crossed your head," the man chuckled as Danny shook the man's hand from him, disgusted that he let him take advantage of the situation. He wouldn't let his enemy see the satisfaction of seeing him break in front of him. However, Danny couldn't help but believe the man's words. Why did it sound so...**true?**

"Goodbye... Vlad," the young boy murmured, not having the energy to fight the older halfa today. All he wanted to do was go to bed and think this through. To make things worse, he had class after this, science to be exact, and he knew he would be barely focusing in class.

The older halfa sighed, seeing the teenage boy take off, leaving him alone in the room. He truly wanted the boy beside him, someone who was like him. But he knew Daniel was stubborn, and would be hard to obtain. He just had to break through it.

However, the older halfa was convinced that Daniel would come running to him today, if not, tomorrow when the news has reached all over the world.

Yes, he would come. He would stay here. His plan had to work. They worked on other people so why wouldn't it work on a **_fourteen-year-old teenage boy?_**

_Maybe because he was special._

* * *

**A/N: Due to how long this story was, I decided to split it in half. I'm still working on the second chapter but rest assured, it will be continued on the following chapter soon :)**

**Word Count: 8 901**


	4. Chapter Two: Vlad's Plan (P2)

**Warning: Longer than the last chapter, sorry!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom. I simply only own the plots.**

**A/N: Before you proceed, the reason why I have been updating so fast is that I already had these chapters ready, but after this will be slow updates. However, since summer break is just around the corner, I'll try to update more quickly. I also have another note at the end of this chapter so make sure you read it. Thanks!**

* * *

The moment Danny left Vlad's office, his friends quickly scurried after him, ready to throw all sorts of questions at him. But before they could utter a word, Danny held his right hand up, signalling them not to say anything at the moment.

His friends were confused at first, and when they noticed the weird expression their friend was wearing, their worry increased. They were afraid something... bad had happened between the two halfas. Sure Danny was already nervous before they talked with Vlad, but now he looked perplexed, his mind off and thinking about something. The look on his face wasn't relaxing one bit.

Sam and Tucker reminded themselves to ask him about the events after school so that the boy had time to think. They knew Danny wouldn't say anything if they asked him now so they left it for later. Danny liked to think on things alone and make a decision before asking other people for their opinion.

When the trio finally arrived at school, they realized they were seven minutes late, and they all shared the same class this period. Having them walk in together would be too suspicious so Danny told his friends to go, informing them he needed to go to the washroom. That was only partly a lie. He needed to wash his hands from the meal they just ate in the specter speeder, considering jam did stick together.

The _ real _ reason he decided to take a bathroom break was to clear his brain off of things. Like what had happened between him and Vlad, only twenty-five minutes ago. Danny didn't know why he was feeling worried or why he tensed every time he remembered Vlad's words. So what if everybody knew his secret? Wouldn't that be a good thing? Wouldn't people like him more knowing their hero was also a human, like them? Knowing a fourteen-year-old teenage boy was protecting their town day and night? Shouldn't he feel... good?

_ ... _

Danny wasn't so sure of himself now. Somehow, the older halfa's sick messages managed to stick themselves in his head, not wanting to come out. Danny was now irritated, ready to take out his anger on the first ghost that showed up, especially the box ghost. He wanted nothing more than to go back to the man's house and blast him a shot or two to let out the worry inside of him. He was**_ really_** tired of letting Vlad mess with his brain. He knew Vlad was saying all of those things just to threaten him and get him on his side. He couldn't fall for this. He _wouldn't_ fall for this, like every other scheme Vlad managed to plan. It wasn't any different now, so why did he feel so hopeless this time?

But Danny knew that somewhere near those lines, lies the truth. He knew the guys in white wouldn't stop _till _ they hunted down the ghost and took him in for questioning and experiments. He knew that _ even _ if he was a hero, the guys in white would try to find a way to pin something ghostly on him and have the whole town turn on him.

He also knew his parents hated ghosts with all their might. They even wanted to uphold the family tradition to their kids, meaning Danny had to hunt _himself _down. But would they seriously hate him? When they find out, would they embrace him or rip him apart molecule by molecule? Or was that too much thinking?

Danny didn't want to admit that Vlad was right. He just couldn't, meaning, he didn't want Vlad to win this time. He can't just go, believing every word his arch-enemy said. Vlad wanted nothing more than for him to be his evil apprentice. **To be his perfect half-ghost son.** It was just one of those manipulative schemes.

And Danny knew that would never happen, especially after **Dan**. Vlad's mansion was where his evil self lied, meaning if he went there, he would surely turn _evil, _no doubt. And Danny couldn't allow himself for that to happen, **_ever_** _again_. It was too risky and _dangerous_.

He quickly shoved the unwanted thoughts from his head, not wanting to think about the evil future he was about to have _ if _ Clockwork hadn't come to save him at the right time. He instead, brought his focus back to the main mental crisis he was having.

There was _ no way _ he would join Vlad and nothing was going to change his mind. He wouldn't abandon his family and friends for someone who thought nothing of him other than an expensive object, a prize needed to be claimed. He wouldn't sell himself like that. He didn't think that dirty of himself. Sure his self-esteem was below the ground, but it didn't reach the point where he would sell himself for someone that never really liked him. It was _ wrong _ on so many levels.

But he didn't know what else to do. He felt extremely hopeless in the situation like there was no solution to the misery he was dealing with. He wanted nothing more than to sleep and never wake up, afraid to be faced with the cruelty of reality. It felt like it was hitting him in the face each time.

But what Danny feared the most was what would happen when Vlad reveals his secret the following evening. If he didn't go, Danny _ knew _ Vlad was going to tell everyone with no hesitation whatsoever, knowing the man didn't have feelings to reconsider his actions. He knew that the man always kept his word, which meant he was serious when he said he would. Last night's news incident was all the proof he needed and Danny didn't need to think twice at that thought.

Should he take the risk? Should he just leave for Vlad? I mean, it was not like he would submit to him on his time there, right? There, nobody would know his secret nor suspect that _ Danny Fenton _ was the one and only hero, _ Danny Phantom _. He wouldn't have to live in fear of being exposed by the media or his curious classmates. He wouldn't need to worry about the guys in white chasing him every chance they can get, meaning no painful experiments. He wouldn't need to worry about one of his parent's inventions hurting him in every way possible.

_ But _ that meant abandoning his city, Amity Park. He wasn't going to leave the town he was raised in, let alone, his family and friends for something silly as that. Even if what Vlad said about his family was true, he _ couldn't _ abandon his duty of keeping his town safe from ghosts such as Skulker, for his selfish reasons. _ He wouldn't allow it _. He'll live in guilt and despair his whole life and one thing Danny knew he hated was the feeling of being responsible for something. He hated that feeling as it made him feel weak.

_ But then _, where would he live? Who would his family be now? Who would take care of him, send him to school, tell him they loved him every morning? Would he be able to experience love again aside from his friends and sister? Would he even be able to meet his friends and sister if he was being chased around the whole time?

And the most important question is,

**Would his parents still love him despite him being a freak?**

* * *

The rest of the day at school was a blur. He got a detention slip because he was seventeen minutes late after lunch. He also got stuffed into a locker by Dash because his attitude towards him was 'petty'. And his friends wouldn't stop looking at him, debating on whether it be the perfect time to ask about the talk he had with Plasmius. The look on their faces was undeniable. They were worried.

However, Danny had bigger problems than just school and bullies. He still didn't know what to reply with, regarding the offer the older halfa had explained to him. Although Danny knew he could never live with him without wanting to blast his face every minute that passed, that didn't leave him any other option. If they found out his secret, he was doomed and he would have to live with Vlad either way. At least in Wisconsin, he was known as a stranger. So it was better to just go with the first option, meaning his parents wouldn't chase him and there would be less chaos.

Danny first decided to tell his friends about his decision, knowing he needed lots of advice and opinions in this situation. _ He also knew they wouldn't take his decision too well. _

"You're _ what?! _" Tucker exclaimed, not believing a single word of what Danny was saying to him while Sam just stood there shocked, trying to figure out if this were some sort of prank.

"Danny, you can't be serious! I can't believe you even had such thoughts! Can't you see? _ Vlad is manipulating you! _ " she said, after a couple of minutes after realizing her friend was indeed serious about his crazy decision. She didn't even bother masking the hurt lying on her face, knowing too well that Danny mattered to her _ a lot _ . She just couldn't believe Danny would seriously consider Vlad's offer, after all the pain he's put him through. Why was Vlad so intent of having Danny by his side anyway? _ Why can't he let go of him? _

"Yeah, man! What happened to 'I'll never join you fruitloop!' or the part where you vowed to take care of Amity Park even under harsh circumstances? That's not even the important part. When you leave, you're leaving _Danny Fenton_ **and** _Danny Phantom_ behind," his male friend stated sadly, as Danny looked away, not wanting to see the hurt look on both of his friends' faces. If he did, he would just break down right in front of them, and that was the last thing Danny wanted right now. He knew that his decision was wrong, but he was just so confused...

"I-I'm sorry I can't!" Danny stuttered, holding back a couple of tears as he leaned on the wall of his room, trying to look at anything but them. He couldn't bear to see the disappointment in their eyes. It was too much. He wouldn't let them see him in such a pathetic state.

Danny decided to tell them after school, knowing they may not take it well during school and start some sort of unnecessary drama between the students. After all, Casper High was a boring place and nothing interesting ever happened, excluding the ghost attacks and Danny Phantom. It was currently four o'clock, one hour away before calling Vlad and telling him his final decision.

"Danny, you're stronger than this. I know it, Tucker knows it, everyone else knows it! Whether you're Danny Fenton or Danny Phantom, you know _ damn _ well you **do not** submit to anyone, _ especially _ an enemy like Vlad Plasmius. He _ knows _ you wouldn't join him no matter what and used this as an advantage to get you to believe him and surrender. You heard him yourself, he said he planned this for weeks! Do you know how long that must've taken? He had this already planned out, expecting your every move and knowing how to reply to them. He used your family as your weakness to hit you low," Sam explained, holding tight onto Danny's shoulders. Although Danny refused to look at her in the eye, he knew that what she was saying was right. Vlad planned this like every other of his schemes. What made this plan somewhat different than the others he tried to trick him into? He _ tried. _ That means he _ never _ fell into them. And something was telling him he wouldn't fall for it this time either.

"He knew you loved your family dearly and that's the main reason why you aren't by his side this very moment. He was expecting all of this and you managed to fall right into it. But it's not too late to get up. He now suspects that you're in pain, that you'll give in, but you've got to show him that he can never mess with you, Danny. He thinks that he's finally managed to mess up your brain- _ heck _ , he even managed to bring **Valerie** into this! You know, if Valerie knew Danny Phantom was you, she would stop hunting you. She still has a crush on you and would _ never _ hurt you on purpose. Don't even try to deny it," Tucker said, crouching next to Sam as they faced their half-ghost friend. They were eager to receive a response from him as the silence was killing them.

"I guess you're right," Danny murmured as he closed his eyes, thinking this through. Now that he was somewhere quiet, he managed to focus on the situation at hand. He closed his eyes and processed Vlad's words in, deciding whether or not each one made sense.

Danny knew he was going on the wrong path. He would _ never _ join Vlad, even if his parents indeed hated him and kicked him out of his house. That fruitloop would surely drive him insane to the point where he forgets how to speak! Showing up at his mansion would just show that he was weak and pathetic, how he couldn't take care of himself. He didn't need anyone to protect him, so why did he need someone now? He could deal with stuff like this alone. He never needed Vlad, so why did he need him now? What made this situation different from the others? Absolutely nothing! Just another, _ villainous _, scheme.

If he left his family now, they would surely be heartbroken. Why would their only son leave suddenly with no explanation? He could already feel the guilt as they mourn his loss, knowing they lost someone close to them for fourteen years. He couldn't do this to his family just for his selfish reasons. He just _ couldn't _. It didn't feel right.

"What would Jazz say if she heard you say that?" Sam finally whispered as that quickly perked the teenager's attention. The mention of his sister was enough to drive him in hysterics. Oh, why hadn't he thought of that before? What was he doing? He couldn't just leave his sister, betraying her by going to live with their enemy! She would never speak to him again! She was the only family member to fully understand what he was going through! His leaving was wrong on so many levels.

He missed her a lot and needed her. She was his older sister and she always reminded him she would be there everywhere he went, guiding him to the light. She promised to never leave him alone and yet here he was, breaking that promise. How could he arrive at such a decision without his sister's opinion first?

As if on cue, his cell phone started ringing, a Dumpty Humpty tune playing. If it weren't for the current circumstances, the trio would've blasted the song on a higher volume and enjoyed the good taste in music. However, nobody bothered to smile, or even acknowledge the music being played. Before his friends could say anything regarding the phone call, Danny quickly picked up his phone, not reading who it was.

"Hello there, Daniel," a familiar voice answered, the calm voice irritating the teen to the point where he planned to just hang up the phone on him. Danny frowned at the nickname the man had for him but he forced himself to ignore it and put the phone on speaker so his friends can hear the person on the other line. He was still curious as to why the man was calling him, especially now after they talked only a couple of hours ago.

"What do you want, Vlad?" The half-ghost boy snarled in distaste, not in the mood to talk to _ anyone _ at the moment.

"What, no snarky remark today?" The man responded back immediately, grinning at the odd boy's behaviour. Of course, he knew why the boy was all gloomy, but he was so used to his witty banter all the time that it just sounded weird to hear him like that.

"I don't have time, **Plasmius** . You either tell me what you want and get it over with, _ or _ I hang up. And let me tell you, I'm not responding to any of your phone calls after that," the boy threatened, fed up with putting up with the older halfa's personality. Having to talk to him for one day was enough, now he had to listen to him again? Today was turning out to be the **worst day ever.**

"Ah, here's that short temper of yours. My boy, you should really just relax, I didn't come here to start a fight," the man said, amused. He didn't know why, but he just enjoyed the boy's personality, even when it was meant to scare him off. He found it _ way _ too amusing.

_ That's a surprise, _ the boy thought dryly, tempting himself from saying it out loud. The least he wanted right now was another boring lecture from the man. He just wanted him to say what he wanted! What was taking him so long? It's as if the man enjoyed seeing him irritated all the time.

** _Wait_ ** _ , how does he know my phone number- _

"Okay fine, here I'll save you from the trouble and tell you why I called you. I personalized a ride for you that will wait from five to five-thirty. My pilot will pick you up and drop you off at my mansion in Wisconsin. Oh- and don't worry, you're not being thrown off again, I told him _ not _ to hurt you. Don't be late, you know how strict I am about punctuality," before the boy could hotly reply at the man's explanation, he quickly hung up, knowing too well the boy would just argue back for another hour.

"How's he so sure I'm coming?!" the teen exclaimed, earning surprised glances from his friends, not believing what their friend had just said. He shut his phone up with so much force that one can see it's on the verge of cracking into small pieces. The man's words even made Danny now want to disobey him even more. Who did he think he was manipulating his mind? Why did he think that he would go to him like a lost puppy with no owner? Did Vlad really think that Danny was _ that _ pathetic, that he would sell himself to the man just like that? Wasn't he aware of how stubborn he can get? _ Apparently not. _

"Well, at least we have our answer now," Tucker said to brighten up the atmosphere, breaking the silence as Danny rolled his eyes. His friends were sure relieved that Danny wasn't thinking of leaving them anymore, though they knew he wouldn't have. Danny was strong and they knew from previous fights that he never let his guard down, even when the situation seemed hopeless. He always managed to find a way to get back up and try again and again. He always does, even with Dan, his own self.

But Vlad's words must've hurt him deeply if Danny was willing to join him. They knew that his family and friends were his weak spot and that if anything would happen to them, he would only blame himself for not protecting them. Vlad knew his weaknesses and decided to hit them, affecting his mind completely. However, they would make sure they never left the boy alone with the man again. They knew how dangerous Vlad was and how deep his words could affect someone. Even if that 'someone' was Danny.

They now vowed to never let Vlad speak with the young halfa anymore. And if he somehow managed to, they would be there to make sure that the man didn't hurt Danny, both mentally or physically. No matter how strong and brave he was, hero's weren't perfect, and they certainly were afraid of something.

"If Jazz was here, however, she wouldn't have let you go see Vlad, nevertheless, talk with him alone," Sam stated as Danny chuckled, knowing that was what Jazz would've done. She was too protective of him sometimes, but he loved her for that. He was glad that she knew his ghost secret. It made the tension lower and gave him hope that his family _ might _ accept him.

The phone rang again, breaking the boy from his thoughts. He frowned, hoping it was not the older halfa again, mocking him with the fact he's gonna live with him. He couldn't bear to hear his voice again, let alone see him. It was already disturbing the fact that he had his phone number when he didn't even give it to him.

_ Is he ever gonna stop calling me? I'm starting to think he is doing this on purpose _, the boy thought dryly before unlocking his phone again. If it's him, he was definitely going to block him. But what happened next shocked him. His breathing hitched when he realized who the caller was. The temperature of the room ironically became colder that Danny could see his breath right now. One would have mistaken it for his ghost sense!

"It's Jazz.," Danny whispered in panic, his voice barely noticeable but his friends heard him just right. To say they were shocked is an understatement. Might as well add the drool hanging from their mouths as they gaped at the boy.

"I-I swear I didn't know about this!" their goth friend stuttered, not believing who was calling. She was just talking about her right now! It's as if Jazz heard them from the other side of the room.

"Do you think...?" the techno-geek started, referring to the situation they were in. Was she aware of the news that was aired yesterday? Did she know that Danny and his friends went to visit Vlad just a couple of hours ago? Did she know what Danny decided to do minutes ago?

"Of course not! How would she know? She's not some sort of stalker, like _ that fruitloop _!" Danny exclaimed defensively, knowing too well his friends wouldn't tell his sister what happened nor would he himself. His parents were too busy with ghosts and he doubted her school friends would have anything related to the matter. So how could she know?

But maybe he was just overreacting. It could be a coincidence she would be calling him today, at this time. Maybe she just wants to check up on him or that she's confirming her return on Monday. It would be nothing related to the problem he and his friends are facing. So why was he so worried?

"Well, we're making her more suspicious by not responding. Pick up!" Tucker said encouragingly as Danny sighed, and took a deep breath before clicking the accept button and putting it on speaker so his friends can hear the conversation going on.

"Calm down," Sam whispered nervously, knowing too well Jazz would surely uncover what's going on just by Danny's worried voice. She could tell the lies by just hearing one word off her brother's mouth.

"Hello?" a familiar voice responded, breaking the silence as Danny finally calmed down and pressed the phone near his ears, reminding himself to forget what just happened the past twenty-four hours. If he wanted to avoid his sister's worried questions, he would have to maintain a casual conversation without revealing anything unusual. I mean, how _ hard _ can it be?

_ Apparently, _ ** _ a lot_ ** _ . _

"Hey Jazz- so what's up? School fine?-no wait, campus? We were just talking about you, heh," Danny quickly responded back, both of his friends slapping their faces in disappointment. They knew Danny wouldn't calm down even if his life depended on it.

_ Smooth Fenton, _ Danny said mentally to himself as he closed his eyes, hoping Jazz didn't suspect anything unusual by his last sentence. The least he needed right now was his overprotective sister lecturing him about the dangers of keeping stuff away from your family members or how visiting Vlad could affect a person's mental state of mind. Not that she was wrong.

"Fine, I guess. How are _ you _?" his sister casually said, causing Danny to raise a brow at the eerie calmness of her voice. Did she notice anything yet? Or was she waiting for the right moment to shoot up her worried questions? I mean, his voice basically gave it away, Jazz can't be that oblivious. She obviously knew something was up.

"Oh, I'm great! We just went to the movies actually and watched one of Sam's favourite horror movies, it was called uh-" he looked as his goth friend, waiting for a reasonable answer. But to his horror, his friend instead just shot him a worried glance, clearly not coming up with anything. "Oh uh I forgot actually, but it was very good and I enjoyed it- a lot. You know, it helps with the stress of school, and um _ stuff _. Nothing interesting happened in the past few days if that's what you were asking, heh and yeah uh...erm yeah."

His friends were on the urge of breaking the chair they were sitting on. They couldn't believe what their ghost friend had just said. Jazz** had** to have suspected something by now or she was definitely a Fenton.

"Mhm sounds good. I bet Sam enjoyed it knowing she probably dragged you guys. Anyway, I was meaning to ask you something regarding yesterday but I was too tired to call you. You know, the tour we had was tiring and I couldn't even read my favourite book that night," Jazz said, going into casual conversation, as Danny's heart started beating fast, ready to burst out of his chest if she said one more word. She couldn't have referred to the news yesterday, would she? I mean, why would she check up the news, Amity Park was a small town and none of the other states paid any attention to it.

"Ahh well I hate to say this but I have- um, karate lessons with Sam and Tucker and we can't be late, you know? Tell me about it tomorrow, or in one week- or just never! Ha, ha, I feel like in a joking mood today," Danny quickly said, as his friends rolled their eyes. _ Who would believe _ ** _that?_ **

"Danny, you don't take karate, nor any other sport actually. And it's Friday, meaning you watch a movie in the evening, not right after school," his sister corrected, earning nervous glances by his friends. Danny looked at them pleadingly, hoping one of them would come up with a good excuse to save themselves. But it looked like no one had the right comment and they just sat in silence, not one of them daring to breathe.

Jazz stared at her phone, shaking her head in amusement. Danny was _ too _ predictable and if it weren't for the situation, she would've laughed for how obvious he made his voice sound. Even if you were a complete moron, you would've told that something was wrong by the nervousness of Danny's voice. It was clear as the moon in an open field at night.

Jazz took the silence as some sort of 'we've been discovered' scene and turned back to her phone, ready to reply back to them from what was bothering her for the past hour. It was currently twelve thirty am from where she was living and she badly wanted to call him but she was busy all afternoon. She wanted to know how things were going for him before anything else happened.

"I see. The news must've messed you up that bad, huh?" she said, as Danny jolted in surprise, not knowing how to respond to such comments. So she knew. Of course, she knew, what was he thinking? How could he lie about something like that to his sister? I mean, nobody else knew of his secret except his two friends because they were there when the accident happened, and yet, she was the only one who managed to uncover it.

_ "I-" _

"Danny, you know I'm always here for you, right? Don't let the news affect you too much. I know you too well that you must've had a panic attack when your friends told you. _ Am I correct? _ No wait, don't answer that, I need to finish. I'm currently in the airport, ready for my plane to take off in a couple of hours. Once I knew about it, I quickly booked the quickest route back to Amity Park. If this 'mystery person' or Vlad, was going to reveal your secret today, I want to be here for you along with your two friends."

_ "What, but how?!-" _

"Danny, you know I'm not dumb to have figured out Vlad would attempt such a plan. I'm surprised you haven't uncovered it by now, it's quite obvious. Who better make our life hell other than Vlad Plasmius himself? Now, don't try to change my mind about staying here 'cause I'm not going back. I had two days left anyway, it wouldn't have made such a big difference."

Danny couldn't believe what his sister was saying. Did she leave the open house of her favourite college to just go back and be there for him? Who's sister would do that? He couldn't help but smile in happiness and if it weren't for the current situation, he would've laughed and talked more with her. He was overwhelmed with care and guilt. His sister cared that much for him.

"I- Jazz, you don't know how much that means to me," he finally said, not knowing what else to say. He could tell that his friends were sharing the same expression, now wishing they had an older sibling.

"I know, little brother. But don't think you're off the hook that easily, you've got a lot of explaining to do," his sister said seriously, knowing there was much more to the story. Danny opened his mouth to deny that something else had happened but then stopped when he saw his friends looking at him in disagreement. That made him want to think more about it. Should he tell Jazz of what happened between Vlad a couple of hours ago? Is it wise to tell her, knowing she'll freak out even more? Even though she was calm, he knew that it was just a cover to her freaked out demeanour. She was clearly worried about him and that made Danny want to continue with what he was about to say.

"Actually Jazz, nothing else really happened. But how did you know about the news?" he quickly said, avoiding her protest with a question. Jazz pursed her lips, knowing he was doing it on purpose and that something else has indeed happened. She didn't know what was troubling her brother so much, but she had a feeling it had something to do with Vlad.

"Yeah, you expect me to believe that after your skittish reply to me the moment you picked up your phone? I'm not dumb Danny, you of all people should know that" she soberly said, knowing her brother was lying. He may be a good liar to his parents, his school and possibly the whole world, but he wasn't fooling her.

"God Jazz, why are you so paranoid!? I told you I'm fine, nothing else happened, jeez!" Danny exclaimed, not caring anymore about keeping his anger to himself. From the uncomfortable silence that overtook on the other line, he knew that he had hurt his sibling. He instantly felt bad, knowing he shouldn't have lashed out on Jazz. It wasn't her fault. He was just too mad to care anymore and took it out on his sibling instead.

His friends remained silent the whole time, even considering leaving the room alone so the two can have their private conversation alone. They even considered doing the happy 'I'm glad I'm an only child' dance once out but they decided against it.

"I- ugh Jazz, I'm so sorry. I'm just so... upset. I want to tell you but you'll get freaked out and that's the least I want to do. You've already ruined your trip by coming back home and I don't want to cause you any pain," the half-ghost teen trailed off, completely lost at words.

"Danny, you know that I care for you, right? It must've been something serious that you're so eager to keep away from me. But Danny, you need to tell me this. Let me help you, I promise I'll listen. As for my trip, I told you, _ it's fine _. I only missed two days, we weren't gonna do something interesting anyway," his sister explained, growing impatient by the second. She wanted to know what caused her brother this much grief, even though she already had the answer to it.

"Ugh fine. But don't interrupt me. It's not exactly easy to tell you this, _ or anyone _, especially on the line," the teen said, finally giving up. He didn't want to tell his sister this and cause her more guilt but she was going to know anyway when she comes home tomorrow. It wasn't exactly easy to hide something like this from her. Almost impossible.

His friends took this as a cue to leave, knowing the two needed their space. Danny was going to tell her this and by the look on his face, he was going to experience trouble. The least they can do is ease up the tension and leave, so it's only one person. Plus, they already knew the story and they didn't need to hear it from him again. It would already cause them unnecessary pain.

Danny was internally _ relieved _ when his friends left, closing the door behind him. His sister decided to end their call and facetime him on his laptop instead, placed on his desk. Although Danny was reluctant about the idea, saying he didn't want her to see his face when he told her this, she replied saying it was important to talk face to face and went into lecture concerning her psychology facts. She said it gave off the feeling that she was near him and sitting right in front of him right now. And for once, Danny agreed.

"Promise me you won't get mad? " the boy hesitantly asked, his voice not so confident anymore now that he was seated in front of his laptop, his sister facing him soberly. Although he felt somewhat happy to see his sister's face again, he was still unenthusiastic at the prospect of having his sister stared at him the whole time he was talking. He didn't want to break down in the middle and face the embarrassment of his sister comforting him. He wouldn't hear the end of it.

"I promise, little brother. Now get on with it, I'm getting tired of just looking at your distraught face the whole time. I'm starting to think you're just buying time," his sister playfully glared, earning an uneasy chuckle from the teenage boy.

_ Ah well here goes nothing _

* * *

"Oh, Vlad's so going down. _ What the heck is wrong with him? _ Oh, wait, **everything!** I never thought he would stoop down to that level," Jazz yelled furiously, not mad at her brother nor Vlad even, but at herself. If she was here before, she would've never let Danny go visit Vlad, let alone, have him talk with him without her by his side.

"Oh I'm about to have one talk with him," the angered girl growled, knowing full well Vlad wouldn't leave her brother alone. To say she was angry would be an understatement. She was furious, her turquoise eyes fuming at nothing in particular.

"Hey Jazz, I'm fine, see? I'm okay and everybody else is," the teenage boy comforted her, hoping his sister would calm down. But it didn't look like she would rest anytime soon.

"Did... D-did you consider his offer?" his sister hesitantly asked, her voice still mad but fearful at the same time. Vlad wouldn't have manipulated Danny, would he? I mean, it didn't look like Danny had thought about it.

However, the silence from the other line and his troubled expression was all the confirmation she needed to confirm her thoughts. She couldn't believe Danny had actually thought of leaving her and everyone else in Amity Park! Vlad using his weakness is just so low of him!

"I can't believe you thought like that!" Jazz exclaimed, still mad as Danny reverted his eyes away from the screen. He had a light blush colouring his cheeks from shame and guilt.

"I'm not leaving anymore!" he quickly defended himself, ignoring the guilt that's been pounding in his heart. He knew that his decision was wrong but he wasn't thinking straight and his mind was overwhelmed by several emotions at the same time.

"But you were gonna if Sam and Tucker haven't talked you through! Why would you do that to yourself? Danny, I've told you many times that I'll always be there for you, even when situations are hard, " his sister yelled.

_ "But-" _

_ Why did everyone keep interrupting him today? _

"No, you listen well here Danny. Our parents ** _love_ ** you. _ Do you hear me? _ They love you and you can't deny it. Whether you're human or ghost or some other creature, they will continue to love and care for you. _ Never _ think otherwise. Vlad wants you to think that he's the only one who can understand you, that you're all alone in this world and have no one to turn to. He's playing with your mind, predicting your every move. Take this from someone who's studied psychology for a long time. You said it yourself, I'm _ always _ right. Maybe not on _ everything _ but this, I am. You're never alone Danny and you can rest assured that I'll continue to keep you safe and sound," his sister finally said, letting it all out. When she finally finished her rant, Danny could only stare at her in shock while the atmosphere quickly got awkward. Neither said a word after that.

"I, um wow. Thanks, Jazz but you should know that I'm not leaving you. I'll never betray my parents for someone who's been trying to hurt me for months. Even if Sam and Tucker hadn't talked me through this, I would have realized sooner or later I was making the wrong choice. You can count on it, " he finally said as his sister smiled appreciatively. She knew Danny wouldn't attempt to leave them but she just couldn't stop herself. The thought of her brother living with their enemy was enough to drive her crazy.

"And about Valerie and the guys in white, don't worry about them one bit. I'm sure Valerie will feel anything but hate. In fact, I think she will be guilty and even try to apologize to you for all the other times she tried to hurt you. And the guys in white have barely caught you before, what makes it so different now that you have revealed your identity? They mess up every time, they're horrible ghost hunters! You know, they can't do anything since you have fans all over the world and if they knew about that, let's just say those men will go out of business," his sister informed him, earning a relieved smile from Danny. Even though he knew about what his sister said before, it still felt better to hear someone else reassure him.

"I know, I know. I just can't help but worry a bit, you know?" the boy admitted, rubbing the back of his neck nervously as his sister narrowed her eyes at his comment.

"_ A bit? _ I think you meant a whole ton. Little brother, you worry _ a lot, _" his sister snorted earning a light glare from her brother. So what if he panicked a bit? His situation was completely understandable and any other person would've reacted the same.

"Anyway, I've got to go on board my plane. See you in a couple of hours, hero," his sister said, hanging up before he said anything else. He smiled a bit at the nickname his sister gave him, and his smile grew wider knowing he will see her soon.

_ 5: 17 pm _

But for now, he was all alone in this. Vlad would notice he didn't decide to come and he'll reveal his secret. He's already seventeen minutes late and knowing Vlad, he would know that Danny arrived at a conclusion.

He was _ not _ going **anywhere** , _ especially _ that fruitloop's house.

* * *

The lonely businessman was now in his private study, walking around in circles nervously. He knew his plan had to work so why did he feel a constant nag, telling him that Daniel wouldn't show up? After all, the boy was smart and knew the best choice would be to come here before he reveals his secret. He planned to keep his secret _ if _ the boy showed up but when he didn't, Daniel shouldn't act so surprised the next day when he finds swarming fans all over him.

Vlad chuckled, imagining the scenario. The idea of him revealing Daniel's secret would be quite comical, knowing he wouldn't be left alone for _ one _ minute. Although, he wished he didn't have to _ if _the boy decided to make the best choice. After all, what was there to dislike?

He would train the boy, help him with his powers so he grows into a strong man. He got his powers when he was in college but the boy was only fourteen when he got his. Surely, he needed some guidance and Vlad knew he was the right person to go to.

He could also offer the boy everything he wanted, knowing he was richer than any other man in the world. He could buy a country with the amount of money he had! He would give the boy anything he desired from clothes to food, video games and all sorts of stuff teenagers love nowadays. How _ could _ he reject such an offer?

Oh, how he wanted to get his revenge on the fat oaf! It was his fault he didn't have the perfect family! He wanted nothing more than to destroy the man responsible for his misery. He just wished he could, then maybe, Maddie would join him along with her son, Daniel. He would be their family! He wouldn't even mind if Jasmine joined too, knowing she was quite intelligent and mature.

Wouldn't _ he _ be a better husband and father? But how was he supposed to prove to the boy and Maddie he was better than Jack? The boy saw him as nothing more than an enemy!

But Vlad knew he shouldn't care about the problem right now. After Daniel lives with him for a couple of weeks, the tension will ease and he'll soon see him as some sort of guardian, or maybe even...father. It was only a matter of time. For now, he should just wait for the helicopter to land right in front of his mansion and greet Daniel. First impressions are important.

And as if on cue, Vlad heard the sound of the engine coming to a stop, right outside his window. He looked out eagerly, grinning when he saw the helicopter finally land safely. It was late but he didn't care. Daniel was here and that was all that mattered. Of course, he reminded himself to give the boy etiquette classes. Punctuality is also important.

He looked at his expensive watch, realizing it was 5:56 pm. That meant that he was supposed to go live in the news broadcast, in four minutes. However, he decided to call the news reporter and cancel the plans he intentionally had. Daniel had decided to come here willingly and therefore, there was no need to reveal the boy's secret.

But the man frowned, realizing only his pilot, Jim, had exited, no sign of bags. However, he brushed the idea aside, thinking Daniel just didn't want to get out soon and maybe he had only one bag carried with him. The boy was stubborn and he knew he wouldn't swallow his pride.

The man decided to greet the boy, in person, so he can remove the nagging feeling inside of him. It was annoying him by the second and although he was sure his plan had worked, he was still having second thoughts.

"Ah Jim, hope you had a good trip. Hm, where's the boy?" the man asked curiously, eager to talk to the younger halfa, after greeting the ghost. However, he received a look of amusement.

"He's one stubborn boy. He didn't show up and when I went to check up on him, there were no signs of him getting ready," the ghost replied, earning a growl from the man.

Of course, his plan had to fail once more. He was sure the boy had lost hope, even when he called him later on today, so what had stopped him? His friends must've talked some sense into him and erased his own words! But how? He made sure to carry on the plan when his sister wasn't present! What was he expecting? The boy always wanted to go the hard way, it was part of his nature. He wouldn't come here willingly so now it was time to take the plan a step further.

_ I'm sorry Daniel. But you leave me no choice, _ the man thought soberly but then was quickly replaced with a darkened look.

**You will come running to me Daniel. Count my words. I'm the only one who can possibly be able to understand you.**

"Hello, I would like to confirm the news show at six today. However I might be a bit late,"

* * *

"Hello everyone! I'm glad you all could join us today! And although we apologize for the tardiness, it's definitely worth it! I mean, we're all about to find out Danny Phantom's secret identity! How cool is _that? _" a woman in her late thirties stated, wearing a matching red suit jacket and skirt. She was smiling excitedly at the camera, clearly not faking it.

"You look really excited there, but who can blame you? I know I am! Phantom surely does manage to hide his identity well, even when he has news reporters chasing after him every chance they get. He's good," the male reporter beside her said. But before the lady could reply back, the 'mystery person' entered, flashing a familiar arrogant smile although the rest of his face was hidden.

"Ah, and it looks like our guest of honour has arrived! I believe we haven't quite followed your name. Can you at least tell us what we should call you?" the male reporter asked curiously, gesturing to the seat beside him.

"Call me badger. _ Mr. Badger _," the black hooded male replied, grinning at his own nickname. He knew if Danny was watching the news right, he surely wouldn't be pleased.

"Well, that certainty is a weird nickname but we're not here to discuss _ that _ . Say, _ Mr. Badger _, you said you had news for us regarding Phantom, am I right?" the same female reporter asked, eager to find out the news.

"Getting excited, aren't we? Very well, I guess I should start since I've already taken up some time to get here. Please excuse my tardiness but what you're about to hear now will make up for it, I promise! Anyway, before I start, promise me you'll hear me out and let me prove my point before you disagree," the man warned as the two reporters nodded eagerly, not wasting any more time. After all, they've been waiting for this moment for a long time.

"Bring it on, Mr. Badger. We promise to not interrupt you, no matter how strange your predictions are. You look pretty serious about it," the male reporter stated, earning a nod in agreement by his fellow female reporter.

"Alright, let's begin. We already know that Phantom is a halfa, correct?" the man said as he earned two nods of agreement.

"Of course, it all ties perfectly! The Fenton's even confirmed it themselves saying a human could possess ghost powers. We're almost certain he's a halfa and that's why we brought you here," the female reporter said as the man nodded.

"Well, would you believe me that the person, or perhaps, the fourteen-year-old teenage boy you're looking for, is none other than Daniel Fenton?" The man said seriously as the audience got silent while the two reporters gaped at him. All they knew was that the boy was the son of the two famous ghost-hunters; Jack and Maddie Fenton. How can a half-ghost be living with two ghost-hunters who were off to get Phantom? It made zero sense!

_ "But-" _

"Nu-uh, you said you'll let me continue," the man said as he raised his left hand, cutting off the female reporter. "Danny Fenton. Danny _ Phantom _ . How can any of you _ not _ see the resemblance by both those names? They literally sound the same. And that's only the beginning of it!"

"And let's not start by stating the similarities of both the boys," the man continued, gesturing to the tech crew to set off the two pictures they received. "Phantom looks to be a teenage boy, around the ages thirteen to sixteen. Danny Fenton just so happens to be a fourteen-year-old with school problems because, _ news flash _, he hunts ghosts. Moreover, both teens don't look like they've hit puberty yet, meaning they're adolescents. Don't tell me you haven't noticed that? And let's not forget the shape of the face and body for both boys. The only thing different is the colour of the hair and eyes which he happens to change to whenever he turns himself into a ghost. Isn't it obvious?"

Not giving time for the reporters to reply, he continued.

"Anyhow, I don't want to spend too much time on this. I will manage to get _ real _ proof of this in less than a week and put it live. For now, you can be certain that the ghost boy is none other than Danny Fenton. Haven't you ever wondered where he would get the Fenton thermos from? How did he magically sneak into the Fenton's without getting harmed? Last time I checked, they had a ghost barrier."

The two reporters were about to reply to the man's comment but he quickly got up and left, not bothering to pay attention to their surprised reaction. Of course, it would be astounding, but once they take time to think about it, they'll understand that they're both the same person.

"Well, that was uh- how would you say it? Unexpected.." the female reporter trailed off as the male reporter coughed, finally regaining his senses.

"I can fully agree. None of us were expecting _ that _. But let's not attack the poor boy just yet. As Mr. Badger said, he still needs to find more evidence to prove this theory, meaning we can't just go showing up at the Fenton's immediately," he said as the audience laughed and they quickly concluded the live news.

* * *

_ Well, now I know that he wasn't joking. Some twisted humour he has, _the half-ghost boy thought dryly, as he looked at the closed device his friend Sam had turned off. They were now in Danny's bedroom, watching the news on Tucker's PDA. Doing this with any of their parents would be too awkward and raise many questions. Danny still wanted time to process all of this. He knew his parents would barge in anytime soon. He was one hundred percent sure that they were watching the news, saying that's all they've been talking about the last couple of hours.

"Man, I'm actually surprised your parents didn't enter in the last five minutes," Tucker stated as Danny sighed, hoping they'd never come in and just brush off the news as some sort of rumour or hoax.

"Yeah, don't jinx it there Tucker," his goth friend replied, rolling her eyes at the comment. The last thing they wanted right now was for an argument to break out. "But seriously though, Tucker's right. What's taking them so long?"

"Probably looking for a scalpel to dissect me with," Danny muttered, burying his head using his two cold hands. By now, they were shaking and he couldn't do anything to stop them.

"Oh, come on. Look at the bright side! You're known as a hero to everyone now," his male friend stated.

"Yep. And I doubt my parents would do anything about it," his friend Sam said as Danny rolled his eyes.

"I think they're off to get a restraining order on me at this very moment," Danny mumbled as Sam sighed sadly. She knew her parents weren't fans of Danny, especially after that Freakshow incident. But she doubted they'd stop her from hanging out with him. Although, she never really listened to her parents. If Danny was right, however, she'll just figure out a way to please them and then they'll leave him alone. Even if that meant changing her Gothic wardrobe style for a week. She could take it.

"If it makes you feel any better, I don't think my parents will care!" Tucker soothingly said, trying to lighten up the atmosphere the current room was in.

"And you'll have Jazz," Sam mentioned. "I hate to say this but, she'll be the most useful out of both of us. She can get very protective of you and she'll never let anything hurt you, I know it."

_ "Thanks, guys-" _

"DANNY!" both his parents exclaimed, bursting through his bedroom door, or more specifically, breaking down his entire wall.

"And that's another innocent wall destroyed," his goth friend mumbled to herself as Danny and Tucker sighed, knowing it was the moment of truth.

Was he able to keep this a secret away from them now? I mean, they didn't believe the news, especially if it was from a sketchy man such as the one that was shown on the screen a moment ago. They wouldn't suspect that their son is a ghost, right? I mean, they are ghost-hunters! How could their _ son _ be a _ ghost _? It was just plain bizarre.

"Uh heh," was all Danny managed to blurt out as he looked down at his feet, hoping they wouldn't notice his nervousness. His friends had quickly left the moment his parents showed up, knowing they probably needed some family alone time. And they didn't think it was wise to get involved in family matters, especially as serious at the one that was going to happen.

"Oh, _ Danny _..." his mother said softly before grabbing onto his shoulders and giving him a tight hug, kissing his left cheek continuously in progress. His father also managed to join in the group hug and was smiling out of happiness. He couldn't believe that his own son was a ghost hunter! He didn't know that any of his children were going to continue the family tradition, especially after lots of failed experiments and the fact that they couldn't catch a ghost even if it was living under the same roof as them. It was preposterous to even think such a way.

To say Danny was shocked would be an understatement. He had different emotions swirling through his eyes right now, the main ones being confusion, astonishment, and love. He was puzzled by the way his parents reacted. He even thought they wouldn't believe such stuff. If his own parents believed he was a ghost, imagine the rest of Amity Park!

He was also amazed by how his parents clearly looked like they accepted him. They were hugging and kissing him, showering him with caring comments and thoughts. They accepted him! They really did. And to think they would throw him out of the house and disown him was quickly pushed aside, knowing it was impossible they would do that to their own son. He felt so..._ loved _.

"B-but aren't you mad?" the teenage boy quickly stuttered out, earning sad looks from both his parents. They were surprised by the sudden comment, as the boy hadn't said anything in the past five minutes. They were even starting to think he died, although that wasn't technically wrong.

"Well, of course, we are! You'd think that almost nine months have passed by and we still hadn't known our own son was a ghost, it is a big surprise. But we understand why you never told us," his mother explained, pinching one of his cheeks.

"And we spent the whole time blabbering about ghosts that we didn't know we were hurting your feelings at the same time! I would've never told my parents, in fact, I would've been terrified if I were you!" his father chuckled, patting his son's head.

"I-well, I guess I'm just glad you guys accepted me. It just feels like a big relief," Danny replied, giving his parents one last hug before pulling back. "But how did you know that what Vl-I mean, _ Mr. Badger _ had said was true?" he asked, correcting himself in the middle.

"It all made perfect sense to us. Your father and I actually thought for a bit and just connected the dots together. The late nights, your grades slipping, not enough sleep, detention all the time- It was pretty obvious," his mother explained as Danny smiled in assurance but still felt nervous.

If that's how they connected the dots, then who knows how the rest of Amity Park did, especially those who personally know him in school. Hopefully, they're too dense to notice it. But maybe he was wrong. Maybe they did figure it out? How was he supposed to act in school, now that everyone knew his secret?

"Or maybe I'm wrong," the teenage boy muttered, walking down the halls of the school on a Monday morning. The weekend was a relief but unbearable at the same time. He and his friends were supposed to go to a fair that Sam had planned but he was too scared to leave his house. He didn't know how people in the streets would react to seeing him.

"Well, I guess you can rest assured that no one knows your secret for now _ until _ Vlad finds a way," Sam finally said, patting Danny by the shoulder.

Jazz had shown up late at night, Saturday. The minute she entered the door, she gave her brother a tight hug, and he responded back. She missed him and he couldn't help but admit that he missed her too. Especially her protectiveness and a bossy attitude.

She was watching the news on the plane and was worried the whole time. She didn't even get to eat properly there, her mind just couldn't think for once. She knew their parents would accept Danny no matter who he was, but she was worried about the rest of the town. Danny didn't like attention so she hoped that the town would be oblivious and ignore the evident signs.

However, she was more worried about what Vlad planned to do next. The man was capable of everything, anytime, and she knew that he wouldn't stop till he had Danny and their mother by his side. Of course, she wouldn't allow it, but she still had a feeling Vlad would find a way to expose Danny's secret once and for all.

She didn't even know if that was good or bad anymore. I mean, it didn't seem that bad to her... Except for the fact he'll barely have any privacy. But the town seemed to like him, and she knew ghost-hunters wouldn't try hunting him anymore knowing he was also a human teenage boy. That would be a crime.

But Danny clearly didn't like it, so that meant she wasn't okay with it either. Anything that made her brother uncomfortable or upset in any shape or form, she was not okay with it. Even if it was something silly.

So Jazz was eager to hear the news from her brother the moment she returned home. She wanted to know every single detail she had missed and for once, she was glad there wasn't school the next day. The students had to have time to think about the whole situation before they could go jumping into insane conclusions.

And so on Monday, Danny dreadfully walked to school, his eyes filled with worry for the first time. He didn't know what his classmates would think. He knew every student loved Danny Phantom (except Valerie) but he didn't know what their reactions would be once they had proof that he was indeed Danny Phantom.

However, he soon sighed in relief when he walked into school, noticing everyone was paying attention to their own business and no one was giving him any weird stares. He even forced himself _ not _ to cover his face with his shirt, knowing that would raise suspicion and have people question him.

His friends also stayed by his side, giving him comforting glances now and then. But for now, nobody was paying them any attention. It almost looked like the news was never revealed. Like it was just some bad dream.

Except for the suspecting glances he got when he entered the washroom to clear his face. They just stared at him, others whispering to their friends. The conversations they had were amusing but at the same time, caused Danny to worry more.

_ Could it be..? _

_ Of course not, he's a wimpy kid! _ Danny frowned at that comment. Oh well, as long as they don't suspect him then he'll just deal with being called a wimp. It can't be that bad.

_ But the clues are so obvious! _

_ Why don't you go ask him then if you're so sure? _

_ He'll deny it obviously! Don't you think Phantom would have already told us if he wanted his secret to be revealed? He clearly doesn't since he barely said anything after the news was released. _

_ Well, I think they're the same person. I mean, I can't be the only one who believes it, right? _

_ I second that. _

_ I third that. _

_ Well, I don't. And even if it was true, I don't care. Let the boy live, jeez. _

_ Whatever the reason is, I think we should just leave him alone. It looks like he wants to keep his secret identity so we'll let him have his privacy, _Danny was extremely thankful for the last comment. At least, some people understood. He just couldn't understand why everyone wanted to know Phantom's secret identity so badly. What good will it do? They're the same person after all!

Danny quickly left the restroom, wanting to be early for today's class for the first time in several months. If he came in early, there would be less suspicion and not raise theories on how he was fighting a ghost. He knew that would be the first one suspicious of him being Danny Phantom because he held him in for detention a lot.

Danny quickly entered the classroom, sighing in relief as he found out that there weren't many students present. He locked eyes with Sam, who was sitting at her usual seat as he walked towards her, taking his seat beside her desk. Sam wanted to say something but she didn't know what. What could she say? I'm sorry your secret has been revealed? That people are starting to suspect you more? That you should not raise suspicion?

Tucker wasn't in his classroom and Danny felt a bit sad. Tucker knew when to lift someone's mood, especially with his awful jokes. He honestly didn't care if the boy started blabbering about technology and such nonsense, it's just that his presence was comforting, it always has. They've been best friends since they were little and have always stuck up for each other.

The number of students started piling up, each one that passed either giving him a weird stare or gaping mouth. The rest just ignored him. He honestly never understood why people liked attention a lot. Personally, he thought no attention was the best attention he can get. If he was trapped in Danny Phantom his whole life, it would be miserable, he'll never find peace. And now that they were suspecting him, his chances of having a normal life was basically over.

"Ugh Sam, I don't know what to do! Why does _ Plasmius _ always have to ruin something for me," Danny furiously whispered to his best friend, trying his best to have his voice remain calm but he was failing. His classmates were already turning around to see why Danny looked so panicked all of a sudden.

"As you said, he's a fruitloop. You should just 'lay low'" Sam stated, mocking his own words from the other time as he rolled his eyes, knowing she'll never drop it.

"I thought you said we should forget it?" Danny mumbled, frowning in the process as Sam chuckled, patting his head affectionately.

"Jeez, I was joking, grumpy pants. I know, I just wanted to have a bit of fun, y' know," his friend stated as he grinned a bit, but then it immediately turned into a frown. His ghost mist had taken off right now, and he hated it more than usual.

_ So much for laying low, _ Danny thought dryly, as his friend chuckled mentally, knowing what the boy was thinking of. She was surprised nobody else knew the blue mist coming out of the boy's mouth but she didn't question it. He was already suspicious.

Danny was about to leave the room when his teacher, Mr. Lancer, opened the classroom door, closing it behind him and turning to face the boy. The teacher looked at him skeptically, as if wondering why the boy suddenly wanted to leave. Could it be..._ a ghost attack _ ? Was what the mystery person saying true? Was he indeed, the one and only, _ Danny Phantom? _

"And where do you think you're going, young man?" the man soberly asked, pushing the thoughts aside. The whole class was looking at them right now and Danny wished he could go back in time and stay in the washroom till the bell rang. At least there, he wasn't acting as suspicious as right now.

"Washroom?" the boy stated though it sounded more of a question than an answer. His goth friend now had her head on the table, realizing she should've given Danny acting lessons beforehand. She was surprised though that he hadn't stuttered or blabbered something random to the teacher or else his secret would've been discovered.

"Is that so? Well, rest-assured Mr. Fenton, there's no ghost out there," the man said, raising one of his brows as Sam whipped her head back up. She was panicking a bit and she realized that Danny was even worse. His face was pale now, not knowing what to respond, afraid he'll mess up. He looked at his cold fingernails, finding them suddenly interesting.

As for the class, they were watching attentively, waiting for a response to confirm their thoughts. So _ was _ he Danny Phantom? Could it be possible?

"I-i wasn't checking for ghosts, I really need to pee," the boy quickly said but then shrugged, calming himself a bit. "But if there's a problem, I'll just sit down. After all, if there was a ghost attack, Phantom would surely show up," the boy casually said, not referring to the superhero's first name. He walked back to his seat, his head raised confidently to show that he had no idea what was going on. The whole class was surprised by his reaction, including Sam. They thought that he would just confirm that he's Phantom and leave to fight whatever ghost there is but he just shrugged it off. Like it was no big deal and that he had no idea why everyone thought he was Phantom. Sam was grinning widely, impressed by how Danny acted but she knew underneath his cover, he was panicking right now. He not only needed to go to the washroom to fight some ghost but to panic and possibly throw up.

He did not look good _ at all. _

"Hey, you okay?" Sam whispered to him after a couple of minutes, making sure he wasn't on the verge of a heart attack.

"**Of course**, why wouldn't I be?" Danny muttered sarcastically, waving his hands up in the air in reaction to his reply.

"Sorry, standard question," she replied, smiling a bit when Danny chuckled a bit. "Anyway, I'm impressed. That was some pretty big acting there."

"Thanks. I'm surprised I managed to fool them, I think," he replied, checking his surroundings in case someone was listening to their conversation. These days have indeed caused him serious paranoia. "But I need to get out of here and fast. I have a feeling this isn't someone as easy as the box ghost."

"Don't worry, when the ghost attacks, I'll keep you covered. Or wait, I don't think I will have to, everybody will be panicking and running around."

"I guess you're right," Danny mumbled, looking at the board. If he couldn't go fight whatever this ghost was, he might as well pay attention in class and learn a few things. He was already failing in math so he should at least pay attention in English class.

Not five minutes had passed when a scream filled the hallways of Casper High, taking away everyone's attention. Even Mr. Lancer stopped talking, knowing it was a ghost. That was enough proof for him to think that Danny was indeed Phantom. He must've known there was a ghost around and he had to fight it.

"Okay everyone, calm down," the male teacher said, motioning everyone to stay in their seats and remain calm. However, the class was nowhere near calm. More screams echoed throughout the hallways and they can now feel the tense atmosphere forming in the school. Although they were used to it, that didn't mean they weren't afraid.

After hearing a loud ectoplasmic shot, everybody decided to scatter out of class, running for their lives. That was the last straw, that even the teacher couldn't hold them in. He finally gave up, sighing as he also ran out of the classroom and outside for safety.

"And that's my cue," Danny whispered to Sam as she nodded understandingly. He quickly got up from his seat when everybody left the classroom, including Sam. He ran out of the classroom, about to transform himself, the rings already forming by his waist when he suddenly stopped.

_ Mr. Lancer was still there. _

"U-uh, aren't you going to run?" Danny nervously stuttered, holding the back of his neck for support. Did he suspect anything? Did he see him about to transform?

The male teacher blinked, wondering why one of his students hadn't left yet when he realized who it _ really _ was. It took him some time to realize that Danny needed space to transform and that he thought he didn't know. Mr. Lancer now understood why the teenage boy waited for everyone to leave the class.

Not wanting to demand an explanation from him, the teacher smiled at him before running to the school doors. He then stopped, holding onto the railing of the door before looking back.

"Be careful, Danny," Mr. Lancer soberly said, though he was now feeling worried. He couldn't believe that one of his students was sacrificing their lives every day to keep the town safe. The guilt was now eating him, as he forced himself to leave, not wanting to have the boy see the expression lingering in his eyes. For all the times he's embarrassed and scolded the boy for not doing his homework or failing an exam, he was protecting him and everyone else.

Meanwhile, Danny was surprised, his mouth shaped in an 'o' shape. He wanted to say something but what was he supposed to say? Instead, he closed his mouth, looking at the man disappearing from the door and outside with the others.

"Thanks," the boy whispered, before letting the two neon blue rings wash over him, transforming him into Danny Phantom. He was certain that his teacher knew his secret right now, but he didn't feel worried like he expected himself to. I mean, it's not like _ Mr. Lancer _ would start chasing after him for an autograph or something. Instead, he thought that the teacher might cut him some slack. He can now understand as to why he always arrived late to class or didn't complete his homework.

* * *

_ "And so you have wished it, and so it will be-" _

"Oh come on, you've said that five times in the last minute. Here's the deal, I kick your butt, you get inside the thermos and I release you into the ghost zone," Danny stated annoyingly, before delivering another blast at the woman genie, his two best friends assisting him along the way.

"What he said. We're dealing with other issues, y' know," Tucker said back, before uncapping the Fenton Thermos, ready to suck her into it. Before Desirée can reply to the two comments, one person in the crowd said something that made Danny's blood freeze colder than his natural ice temperature.

_ "I wish Danny Phantom would reveal his secret!" _

Both of his best friends stared at him in horror, knowing that the female genie had heard his wish. Everybody was shocked, and the crowd was getting bigger meaning more helicopter reporters were circling the scene.

_ Oh no, _ Danny thought nervously as he motioned Tucker to aim the Fenton Thermos at the genie so the wish cannot be performed. _ However, _ they were a tad too late. The female genie looked at the person who shouted the wish in confusion, not knowing why someone would wish for something ridiculous as _ that _. But when she noticed the ghost boy's expression, a smirk formed on her face.

"And so you have wished it, and so will it be!" Desiree cried, letting the blue swirls around her now form around Danny. He stared at his two best friends in a panic, knowing he won't have a secret anymore. Tucker quickly sucked the genie but the magical blue fog continued to form around Danny, doing its job.

Danny started to fly away, motioning to his two friends that they should take care of the thermos while he finds a place to hide. But luck wasn't on his side this time as everyone continued to chase after him, while he tried looking for a vacant place. He even forced himself to turn invisible but that didn't last long as his powers were now vanishing, meaning he was reverting to his natural self.

It first started with his clothes going back to their original state and then that escalated to his white hair reverting to his raven black hair. Danny's flying abilities were now beginning to disappear as he landed himself safely onto the ground, forcing himself to now start running. And then his eyes started to flicker from green to blue and he now knew for sure his secret was revealed.

He then came across a helicopter recording the scene and his terrified face, while more fans came from the other side. He looked around for someone he knew that would save him from his current situation but there were just a bunch of unfamiliar faces, shocked and happy at the same time. He was glad that they weren't looking at him like some sort of freak but that meant he was now going to live in isolation his entire life.

He now couldn't go out in public without getting ambushed by fans. That meant less time to hang out with his friends and a harder time to get the ghosts.

_ Well, I can say that I did Vlad's job for him, _Danny thought dryly as microphones were now being stuck to his face, waiting for answers to their quick questions. He tried to get away but he was pretty small compared to everyone else. There was only one way out but he didn't like it.

_ I mean, they already found out my secret identity, the least I can do now is get away, _ the teenage boy thought, before transforming himself to his ghost half, earning gasps of excitement from the crowd. At this point, everybody was chanting his name and he didn't know exactly why.

But he knew one thing, and that was to get to his house as soon as possible. He was certain that his friends were waiting for him there, at his room or parent's laboratory.

* * *

"Guys, this is serious, I don't know what to do!" Danny exclaimed, banging his head on the wall. Maybe if he banged his head enough, he would wake up from this awful nightmare.

Sam sighed as she looked out from the window of Danny's bedroom, seeing many fans and news reporters standing out there. "They're pretty persistent, aren't they?"

"Well, now we'll have to be careful. They know we're Danny's friends so that means we'll be attacked too with questions about him daily. Not that I mind but I need my personal space!" Tucker stated as he sighed but then a small smile formed on his lips. "But look on the bright side, now you don't have to worry about your secret being revealed anymore!"

"Tucker, the reason I was worried about my secret being revealed in the first place was because of this! How am I supposed to survive this and school! _ Oh no, school! _" Danny cried out, finally realizing that his classmates now knew his secret too. Oh, what was he going to do?

"But you can transform freely now anytime you want and use your ghost powers to your advantage without people questioning how. Plus, everybody in school will like you and I doubt Mr. Lancer would continue to send you to detention now," Sam answered collectively.

"I guess you're right...But that means I don't have a private life!" Danny stated, wrapping his arms over his body, his head facing the ground. Tucker raised an eyebrow at him, clearly questioning the reply.

"You have a personal life?" he questioned jokingly as Danny rolled his eyes, not pleased with his best friend's answer. Sure he never really had time for his best friends and he learned that the hard way when he decided to split himself in two, but now it will be worse. Now, even if he's in his Fenton form, people will still continue to give him attention and he didn't want _ any _of that.

"Trust me, little brother, you shouldn't worry too much," his sister Jazz responded, as the trio quickly turned their heads to where the voice was coming from. His sister had just entered his room, wearing an amused yet concerned look.

"I'm not in the mood," Danny muttered bitterly as he looked away, crossing his arms and looking out the window before closing off the blinds. The look from her face quickly vanished, being replaced with a serious one.

"Yeah, I know. And I also know how hard this must be for you, Danny. But trust me, you'll get used to it. I know you can, you've dealt with deadly ghosts before so dealing with a bunch of crazy fans shouldn't be a problem, hm? I hate seeing you like this. Cheer up, little brother. Who knows, it might be for the best."

Before he could reply to his sister's long statement, she quickly left the room, not wanting to hear any of Danny's excuses. She also tried hiding his secret multiple times but she knew sooner or later, it would have to be revealed. _ Secrets are meant to be revealed_, as the saying goes.

However, she would still be there to protect him and she reminded herself to give an announcement to the whole school about Danny, although she knew that the principal was already planning on doing so already.

Danny looked at the door where his sister had once stood a couple of seconds before he sighed and took a seat on the chair near his desk. He had multiple thoughts swarming in his head and for once, he wanted to be alone. There were pros and cons to all of this, but he knew that he was focusing on the cons than the pros. It can't be that bad..._ right? _ He sighed, telling himself that he'll give it a chance and see how the whole thing goes.

* * *

It's been three weeks, although it felt like a whole year to Danny. Things were finally back to normal however, there were a few changes regarding his secret identity. At first, he was reluctant to go to school because of the sudden reveal but his parents managed to convince him that it was okay and that he shouldn't worry too much about it. Plus, Danny knew he was already behind on his studies and that he needed to get back on track.

When he got to school, he was surprised to see the sudden behaviour of his classmates. Nobody seemed to attack him and he knew it was all Jazz's doings and possibly the school board. However, that didn't mean he didn't get any amazed stares. Everything seemed so...different. Everybody smiled at him, glad their hero was someone like Danny. They appreciated what Danny had done to them by saving them countless times even though they never bothered to give him much thought.

And although he was offered to be a part of the A-listers, he politely declined, deciding to instead sit with his childhood friends. And they understood. Everybody continued to treat him with respect and none of the teachers ever complained when he showed up late or didn't hand his homework in time. Well...except for Mr. Lancer.

Even though the male teacher was now more lenient with the boy, that didn't mean he was off the hook. He wasn't being sent to detention nor having parent conference talks, but the teacher was determined to have the boy focus on his studies and pass his classes, knowing that school was still important despite ghost hunting. He knew Danny was a brilliant boy.

His parents were now more careful when creating ghostly inventions and Danny felt relieved he didn't have to hide anything from them anymore. It now felt _normal_.

But that didn't mean that his fans weren't running after him every chance they got. Every day after school, he would walk out with his friends by his side and then is met with cameras and fans like he was some sort of celebrity. Although it got annoying after a while, he learned to accept it and tried to sometimes smile at the photos being shot. As long as he had his family and friends by his side, he was fine.

"Video games at my place?" Tucker asked as the trio left the school, before getting greeted by a couple of fans. Sam chuckled beside him as she nodded, answering her friend's question. Before Danny could respond, however, a familiar ghost popped up in the sky, shaking his hands in a "scary" way.

"I am the box ghost! **Fear me!**" the ghost cried, as Danny quickly transformed into his ghost self. The crowd started cheering for their hair, excited to see the hero's latest battle. And although it wasn't a serious one, they were still excited.

"You should be glad I'm in a good mood today," Phantom grinned, as the now frowning box ghost raised his hands, bringing the boxes nearby to life.

Danny did enjoy his job. And maybe, _ just maybe_, his secret being revealed wasn't so bad.

* * *

**A/N: Well, that's the end of this chapter! I would like to say something regarding Danny/Vlad's relationship in this book. Sure Vlad wants Danny to be his son but let's not forget the many times he's hurt him. But there is some potential for Vlad to show some care because as he quoted once in an episode, all he wanted was love and I feel like if he actually experienced something like this, he might change a bit and stop being a 'villain'. But another reason why he wanted Danny by his side is that it would be a part of his revenge scheme against Jack, and Maddie would supposedly join him when she sees her son with him. As the chapter goes on, I believe Danny would never join the fruitloop, especially after he's proven to defeat him multiple times and I knew Vlad would reveal his secret as he's already done worse stuff than that in the past and it was as a last resort. He tried using his family and friends against him to manipulate Danny because they are his weakness (proven during Ultimate Enemy) and after gave up when he realized how dumb people in Amity Park are. And lastly, for the ending with Desiree, I felt that since Danny's secret identity topic was trendy, someone might have wished for his reveal to happen (Wes? I don't know, you chose ;) **

**Anyway, if there's something you think I should change, I'm open for criticism so don't hesitate :) Sorry for the long rant!**

**Word count: 14 852**


	5. Chapter Three: Harmless Prank

**Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom. I simply only own the plots**

* * *

It was just another normal holiday, or a special day anyway. Everybody was smiling, playing pranks on each other, especially the students of Casper High. They enjoyed the supposed 'holiday' as it brought laughter and joy to everyone, even if ghosts managed to attack every chance they got. It was a way to let out all the tension and stress from school work.

But two students enjoyed April Fool's the most, the two best friends famously known for their tricks, Danny Fenton and Tucker Foley. They not only played pranks on each other, but they found amusement playing pranks on other students and teachers, even though that meant getting wailed on by the one and only, number one bully, Dash Baxter. It was a day where the trio forgot about their ghost problems and focused on having fun instead.

So the day before April Fool's, the two best friends and even Sam, agreed on some good pranks to play on the students of Casper High, especially the bullies. They didn't care that they would get in trouble afterward, they just knew that it had to be done. The pranks were too good to pass. And now that Danny had ghost powers, they used it to their advantage. Although Danny was reluctant of using his powers for his selfish reasons, he knew these powers were meant to fight ghosts and save people, Tucker finally convinced him, explaining to him that it was a _ harmless _ prank and nobody would get physically hurt.

Sam, on the other hand, did not like the idea. She knew they would get in serious trouble somehow and she was worried. She knew their plan would work and that would be the problem, meaning Dash would know who the culprit, or _ culprits _ , are. Sure Dash barely passed his classes, but he was smart when it came to stuff involving his classmates. She tried convincing the two stubborn boys that it would not be wise to play such a dangerous game on him but, _ of course _, the two boys wouldn't hear it.

However, the trio was oblivious to the fact that their school enemy was also planning something, a mischievous act. He even managed to get his best friend, Kwan, to join this 'evil' plan. It was going to be great. Dash knew that Danny would most likely play a prank on him and he found it only fair that he returned the favour. After that time Danny placed all of his pink stuffed animals in his locker and Fenton toilet paper, he still held a grudge against him and was finally going to let it all out tomorrow.

He knew his plan would work, as there weren't any flaws. He was sure that the boy wouldn't suspect a thing, as it was going to be a surprise. He couldn't wait to see the look on his arch-enemy! However, he had to be cautious in the next couple of hours of school. Danny would try to play a prank on him too, knowing the boy was capable of it. He was going to pay extra attention tomorrow so that he wouldn't let him embarrass himself again in front of the whole school.

As the two rivals planned their well-thought pranks, they were unaware of what tomorrow held for them. They were unaware of how... serious this prank could go. But what could happen? It was just a prank. A _ harmless _ one. They were sure nobody would get hurt and by nobody, that included themselves and their friends. After all, April Fool's was supposed to be a fun day. What could go wrong?

_ Everything _

* * *

The next day was certainly different, and a good change from other days. The students were more cheerful, _ including Sam _, and less boring than usual but of course who would be? Especially if it meant playing pranks on their least favourite teachers aka Mr. Lancer. Although the pranks weren't serious, they got a laugh or two from other people and it seemed that April Fool's will be better this year.

However, nobody's expression can compare to Danny's. He was beaming, his face screaming rainbows and unicorns, as if he had just won a trophy. Everybody knew he was planning something big, and not only to his bully Dash. And even if it wasn't necessarily a _ big _ prank, they were certain it was still a good one. Danny had the same look on his face whenever he was about to do something mischievous.

Danny walked to his two best friends who were unlocking their lockers and grabbing their binders for the next period class. When they noticed Danny walking towards them, they waved at him, and were glad to see him wearing a radiant expression.

"Hey guys," Danny simply said as he unlocked his locker before stuffing his backpack into the messy space. He didn't bother picking up the pieces of crumpled paper balls which landed softly on the ground. He finally took out his unfinished papers before locking it back.

"What took you so long? Don't tell me you overslept again," Sam warned, narrowing her eyes at the grinning teenage boy. It didn't look like he slept in though, in fact, it looked like he woke up extra early today. The bags were still under his eyes and he looked exhausted but still sober enough to focus in class. But she knew the boy was capable of oversleeping, considering the number of times he showed up late to their weekend plans.

Tucker pushed his PDA in front of the boy's face, displaying the time as he knew Danny never wore a watch and didn't have his phone with him at the moment. They were one minute late to class and were just about to leave if the boy hadn't shown up in time. They were used to Danny coming in late since there always happened to be a ghost nearby, but they were certain that there wasn't a ghost _ anywhere _. And he didn't have any new cuts or bruises on his face or arms.

"I had some... business to attend to," the boy replied, hesitating on whether to tell his friends the truth or not. He quickly turned his head away from the confused glances they shot him, as he walked down the hallway leading to his class. His friends snapped out of their curious thoughts and rushed beside him, now determined to know what the boy had been doing. If someone had met him for the first time, they would've thought he just committed a crime and managed to escape.

"What were you _ exactly _ doing man?" Tucker asked cluelessly, eager to know what the boy had done to make him so excited. His eyes were on fire, burning with emotion, particularly anticipation. However, Sam didn't need to ask to know what made the boy so happy.

"You know he's gonna find out, right?" she stated obviously, raising an eyebrow at her friend as Tucker finally caught on, grinning. On the other hand, Danny only smiled smugly, not caring the slightest.

"Have you seen his grades?" Danny asked, rolling his eyes as his friend Tucker looked at him, eager to hear what he was going to say next. The two boys stopped walking as they turned to face each other, grinning.

"Never gonna happen!" the two exclaimed at the exact time, their fingers pointing at each other in the process, earning a chuckle. However, their goth friend only rolled her eyes, still not believing they would get away with it easily. The last time Danny pulled out the toilet paper prank on Dash, he got chased by him and was about to get wailed on if he hadn't escaped in time. She knew that Dash wouldn't be too lenient with him this time.

"Well, what comes around, _ goes around _. Just be careful," Sam warned as the trio started walking again to their next period class, math. This time, Danny only sighed, the excitement on his face vanishing quickly. Sam instantly felt guilty, as if she were responsible for the boy's sudden mood.

"I know, I know. But I feel like Dash already has a prank planned for me," Danny admitted, rubbing his neck nervously. Tucker instantly placed a comforting hand on the boy's shoulder, smiling in the process.

"Don't worry dude, we got your back," he softly said as Danny smiled appreciatively and Sam also placed a comforting hand on him.

"Yeah, he can try to get you, we won't let it happen. Speaking of which, what's the prank you planned for him anyway?" Sam asked as she smiled when the boy's mischievous expression returned.

"Oh, let's just say that his face will be pale as a ghost after this..." Danny mumbled with a smirk in the process. Oh, he just couldn't wait! Tucker raised an eyebrow at his friend's answer, questioning what he meant by that.

"Did you mean that literally?" he asked, smirking, as their goth friend shook her head, knowing she wouldn't be able to get them to stop performing the prank. Now that Tucker seemed interested in it, she won't be able to change either of their minds.

** _"Maybe..." _ **Danny whispered, the grin still lingering on his face.

* * *

Danny wasn't the only one who had a plan coming up. Before the second-period class started, Dash walked down the hallway to meet up with his school pal, Kwan. He was supposed to retrieve a couple of supplies that he told his friend to get. These materials were what he needed to complete his plan.

Dash searched for Kwan, finally spotting him, talking with a familiar blonde girl, Star. The two looked to be in a good mood as they laughed and made small talk casually. When Star noticed Dash coming by, she said one last goodbye and excused herself, wanting to give the two boys some space. She knew it had to be something related to the prank they were planning so she finally decided to visit her popular best friend. She knew Paulina was probably at her locker, fanning over her Danny Phantom shrine.

Once Star was gone, Dash grinned at his friend, motioning him to take out the desired materials. Kwan immediately knew what his friend was talking about so he placed the light shopping bag on the floor and began taking out the materials his friend requested him to get; cans of spray paint (all shades of grey and white), an empty shampoo bottle and water bottle. As he took out the materials, the receipt fell out and Dash bent down to pick it up, examining the specified materials and their prices.

"Mhm... now_ that's _ the perfect one," Dash smiled satisfied, going down the list as he stuffed the receipt in his jeans pocket and picked up the perfect shade of light grey. "How long is this supposed to last exactly? Hopefully not just one day."

Kwan grinned as he took out more paint colours, looking at the back of the bottle where the instructions sticker was printed out. "Just enough time for everybody to realize he 'dyed' his hair. This is permanent spray paint, meaning it's more effective than normal hair dye. It's supposed to last for about a week before he's able to wash it out quickly. He won't be able to dye over it for cover before then because it's strong paint… Are you sure about this? We can get in serious trouble for this..."

Dash looked at his nervous friend before he examined the pewter shade bottle again, checking to see if it will cause any serious damage. Fortunately, it didn't mention anything about it seriously damaging the hair, other than it will stay there for a couple of days and maybe weaken it like any other chemical. He knew he would get in trouble for it but he wanted serious revenge on the boy.

"Relax _ Kwan _, I'll be doing the rest, good? He can dye it back to his raven black hair, or even just wash it out after since it's washable, after everyone's had a good laugh or two. Plus, this is not a harmful kind and will only paint his hair. But why all of these shades of grey and white? Couldn't you choose something more flashy, like pink or orange?" Dash asked curiously, confused as to why his friend decided to use harbour grey as one of the paint colours.

"Well, it was supposed to make him feel like he's ageing quickly or some sort like that. But the other reason was that it's Phantom's hair colour and I always wondered how it would look on a teenage boy, even if it meant trying it on someone like Fenton," Kwan simply replied as his friend rolled his eyes, not believing that _ that _ was the actual reason.

"How'd you know the exact shade anyway? I've seen Phantom's hair colour and this one is similar to it..." The boy further asked, knowing it did look like Phantom's hair colour. Kwan only grinned, nudging his head towards the two popular girls, who were currently giggling over a silly teacher rumour going around. Dash raised an eyebrow, still not understanding what the shade color had to do with Paulina and Star.

"Paulina has a shrine of him, dude. She practically knows his exact hair colour from the number of pictures she took. I even think she has a strand of his hair somewhere..." Kwan finally said, growing annoyed by the obliviousness of his friend. Dash's eyes widened, finally understanding the concept and shuddered. Stalker much? Sure he liked Phantom but not to the point where he had a shrine at home _ and _ school.

"Wow, guess I shouldn't be surprised. She has a major crush on him but I can't blame her. Phantom's awesome dude," Dash admitted, as he sighed dreamily of his hero while Kwan chuckled, still not believing his friend had a role model other than himself. If it's one thing he knew about Dash, it's that he loves himself to the point where he kisses his muscles.

"I know, I wish we knew who he was..." he replied as the boys nodded, going back to the task at hand. Dash picked up the perfect shade of light grey, _ pewter _ , before smiling evilly at it. He was excited to play a prank on his _ classmate _ and couldn't wait to see the reaction when the boy entered the cafeteria today. It was going to be priceless and he would be there to record and post the whole thing on the internet.

"I still don't know how spray painting someone's hair is supposed to be funny. Doesn't seem like a good enough prank to me," Kwan absentmindedly said, as his friend rolled his eyes.

"Kwan, ol' pal of mine. The purpose is _ not _ to give Fenturd a makeover. He was supposed to freak out over his new hair color like a girl screaming over cockroaches, and _ I _ was supposed to videotape it so everybody would see. He would most probably hide his hair with some hat and then when he enters the cafeteria..." Dash trailed off as Kwan blinked a couple of times, before finally getting the idea.

"I would take it off. Got it," his friend completed the sentence as Dash grinned, patting his friend on the shoulder.

"I would be expecting some sort of scream which would make everybody laugh. You know how jittery he can get, especially around ghosts. He'll probably think he's some sort of ghost or something," the blonde boy explained as his friend nodded smiling, seeing what he meant. Now that Kwan knew why the prank was going to be a success, he was even more excited to see how the hair colour would turn out even if it meant trying it on someone like Fenton. It's not like he was Phantom or something anyway.

"And we're doing this today, right? But when? We have class before lunch and we can't just go spray paint his hair in the middle of the cafeteria!" Kwan stated as his friend rolled his eyes before he picked up the empty shampoo bottle, specifically the one Danny used all the time.

"You see this? Fenturd uses this type of shampoo all the time. He'll think that this is his actual shampoo and he'll put it on right before lunch, giving him no time to think twice," Dash explained as Kwan held his right finger up, ready to ask for a further explanation before Dash walked to the boy's washroom, motioning his friend to follow him. Kwan obliged, following his best friend as they entered the empty washroom.

"I have right before lunch and that's why _ I'll _ be the one doing the honours. He always takes a shower after everyone is done and that's why he's always late for lunch. Meanwhile, _ I'll _ slip by the change room, switch the two shampoo bottles and wait for the outcome, outside the gym," Dash further explained as he unscrewed the cap of the shampoo bottle and spray paint bottle before pouring the contents into the empty shampoo bottle. He made sure it wasn't too full to not attract any suspicion and he poured a bit of lukewarm water. He screwed the cap back on, the now full shampoo bottle before giving it a shake, making sure it mixed well. This will make sure the dye wasn't too powerful and that it wouldn't cause damage to his hair.

"Ah, you have this all planned out," Kwan commented as his friend grinned and exited the boy's washroom, the shampoo bottle held tightly in his right hand. He was now confident and pretty excited. It would be a good prank, he knew that for sure. He also knew it wouldn't cause harm to the boy which meant he won't get into trouble for this.

"Oh, you better watch out, Fentina. This won't be like my usual wailings," Dash smirked as he unlocked his locker, stuffing the bottle inside his gym bag so he doesn't forget.

* * *

Right after second period, Danny practically ran to his locker, not to only put his stuff away and grab his gym bag, but to put his prank into action. To say he was excited would be an understatement. Anybody who looked at him would immediately realize that there was something strange with the boy. The gleam in his eyes was shinier than usual, excitement being the most obvious one. Even his friends were stunned by their friend's weird demeanour, not knowing if this was a good sign or not. It didn't look like it caused him any serious trouble nor did it look like he was affected in a bad way. At least, he wasn't gloomy or mad like usual days.

Danny quickly unlocked his locker, thankful that it opened right this time. He didn't even need Tucker to help him with it, he did it on his own this time. Danny stuffed some algebra homework sheets on the top shelf, not bothering to check if it would get crumpled. It's not like he was going to do it anyway, his parents had a new ghost invention and wanted Danny to help them out today. And knowing himself, he either would help them or fight some ghosts that decided to show up.

He took out his desired item, his cracked phone. He usually brought his phone with him to class but he knew his teachers would probably take it away from him as they did with Tucker's PDA. So he decided to not risk it and keep it safe in his locker. This prank was too important and he **needed** to record it.

"Dude, why were you running so fast?" Tucker asked, quickly catching up to his friend with Sam by his side. They were both panting, still questioning how the boy managed to get so far without a single sweat running down his forehead. They didn't even know he could run like that, as he never tried to in gym class. This prank must mean a lot to him.

"Yeah, not to mention you've been acting so weird lately. I would ask you to leave this prank alone but you wouldn't listen to me anyway," Sam stated, shrugging her shoulders as she placed her hand on the locker beside Danny's for support. However, Tucker only shook his head, not agreeing with what she was suggesting.

"Are you kidding?! This prank will be legendary and knowing Danny, he's got something big planned," his techno-geek friend exclaimed, catching the attention of several students walking to their next classes.

"Shh, be quiet!" Danny quickly hushed, raising his finger to his lips to signal him to stop talking. He looked around, checking to see if anyone was listening before leaning closer to his friends. "I'm going to the washroom, don't leave. Tucker, you record using this. The show's about to start soon."

Before either friends could question what Danny was talking about, he gently tossed his already broken phone to his male friend, running in the opposite direction to where they came from. Sam wanted to go follow him and demand an explanation but she noticed a blue light from the end of the hallway, to which no one else noticed, including Tucker. She raised an eyebrow at the scene, wondering as to why Danny had changed to his ghost form. Was there a ghost nearby?... But a blue mist would have appeared out of his mouth and he would have told them. _ Was it... was this a part of the prank? _

While Sam stood there thinking about the possibilities, Tucker played with the phone his friend gave him, inspecting the cracks it already had. He shook his head at his friend's carelessness, understanding why he couldn't take care of his phone properly. Hell, he couldn't take care of himself without getting into some form of trouble!

Before Tucker could give out a statement about his friend's lack of responsibility to Sam, they heard a familiar scream, more specifically, Dash's. Tucker quickly tapped the record button, knowing this was Danny's way to cue him to start recording. The two friends ran to the direction where the commotion was coming from before stopping at a crowd surrounding Dash's locker.

Sam pushed by, eager to find out what exactly happened. By the conversations going on between her classmates, it looked like Dash had seen a 'ghost' but there wasn't one and everybody thought he was crazy now. She rolled her eyes, knowing exactly _ which ghost _ it was but before she could comment on the situation to Tucker, she noticed he was gone too. She pushed by the students, now eager to find her techno-geek friend when she noticed him recording in the front of the crowd.

Once she got to the front beside her Tucker, she noticed something that made her eyes go wide. There he was, **Dash, **prancing around like an escaped monkey who just learned ballet. He was currently wearing a tutu skirt over his outfit, and any other person would've mistaken him for being drunk by the way his body slugged across the hallway, his legs sloppily dragging along. Sam knew he was possessed, by the flickering green in his eyes. Of course, no one noticed this except for her and Tucker, because of the amusement 'Dash' was currently displaying. Even Tucker was grinning which only made Sam roll her eyes, not impressed by the immature behaviour of her two best friends.

Just then, Dash immediately dropped to the ground like a puppet who lost his strings, and when he opened his eyes again they were back to their usual blue, except he looked more tired and confused than before. He looked at the crowd, clearly confused as to why everybody was grinning and laughing at him. However, his expression quickly changed to shock and embarrassment, glancing at the outfit he was wearing and quickly ran to the boy's washroom, making sure to drag his friend, Kwan along.

Just then, Danny walked in, his black hair messier than usual but his mood is still the same as before. Nobody noticed Danny's classy entrance though and continued to talk about the prank, causing him to smirk even wider.

"So what did I miss?" he innocently asked, as Sam rolled her eyes while Tucker high-fived his friend. The mischievousness was written all over his face as if screaming _ 'I did it' _. However, no one noticed it or even acknowledged Danny mysteriously walking into the crime scene. They didn't even pay attention to the fact that they were three minutes late to class and continued to chuckle on their way to class.

"You know he will suspect you, right?" Sam absentmindedly stated as she dragged both her friends down the hallway, one grinning like a crazy psychopath while the other posting the video on social media, smirking now and then.

"Oh, how will he know? It's not like he realized I'm a ghost or something," Danny stated as he looked over Tucker's shoulder, making sure the video was perfect and included all the necessary elements to make it a success. It would be the first video to be officially posted online about the whole prank.

"Other than the fact that your parents are ghost hunters and are constantly inventing ghost stuff, and not to mention the fact that you've done pranks on him before, ** _everything _ **!" Sam exclaimed nervously, pointing out the facts as the two boys simply just grinned, not caring at all with what they could be faced with after this.

"Who cares? His prank can't top this," Danny smugly stated as he earned another eye roll from his goth friend. It's not that she didn't enjoy pranks, especially Danny's, but Dash wasn't someone you should pull off these pranks with. She knew he would figure out it was Danny all along, and he would try to find a way to ruin his life. Dash's reputation was already basically drowning at the moment.

She didn't know why, but she had a bad feeling for today, even though the prank that her friend set up was pretty good and made her laugh too. She had a feeling that Dash also had a good prank and it wouldn't be something funny, **at all **...

* * *

"Oh come on! It can't be _ that _ bad," Kwan soothingly said, trying to calm down the furious teenager but unfortunately, he wasn't succeeding. Dash was ready to explode into tiny bits, his face red of anger and his hands white from clutching onto the wet slippery sink. He didn't bother trying to cuff up the sleeves of his red and white sweater, not caring one bit. He hadn't even noticed his hands had started to throb not until he covered his face, not even wanting to look at himself in the mirror.

"My reputation is decreasing! At this rate, I'll be below fenturd," he growled to his friends, his eyes burning with embarrassment but mostly hate. Oh, how he wanted revenge on the person responsible for this-or ghost in this case. He'll be listed as the ballerina for the rest of high school now. Whoever this ghost was, he was going to pay _ dearly _, in fact, he could care less for how dangerous this ghost is. All he cared about was getting his revenge.

The mention of his school rival quickly grabbed his attention. His eyes hardened, realizing who the culprit might be. Of course, how _ couldn't _ he have noticed?

Danny's facial expression from the morning was nowhere near relaxing. He had something big planned, that's for sure. However, he knew for sure the person to blame for his current situation would be him. It had to be, who else? He didn't know how he managed to get a ghost to overshadow him but he just knew he was the one who planned this. That was why he was looking so smug in the morning, so confident with himself. He knew his prank would work and Dash felt stupid for not realizing it sooner. He hated to admit it, but the black-haired teenager was certainly clever than he gave him credit for sometimes. Too bad he didn't use his brain in his school studies.

And although Dash had a hard time figuring out how Danny managed to pull this prank off, in the end, he was still sure that Danny was the one responsible for it. The more he thought about the prank, the greater his conclusion grew. Danny was responsible for it, and there was nothing anybody could do to change his mind. But that made things easier for him. Now, he wouldn't have to feel guilty for playing the other side of the game. He would feel no regret when the boy walked in after gym class with his hair white as snow, or sparkling grey in this case.

Danny was the son of two ghost hunters, that was enough evidence to come to such a conclusion. He probably either had ghost allies or had an invention to blackmail them with. His father was always coming up with new inventions each day so it didn't seem entirely impossible. Not only that, Danny was the student ghosts mostly associated themselves with, counting the multiple times he and his friends had tried to fight them. And what made things even more suspicious was that after the ghost left his body and he looked at the laughing crowd, Danny was nowhere to be seen. His friend, Tucker, was the one recording instead of him and that made no sense whatsoever. Of course, why would Danny waste such a good chance like this? Shouldn't he be in the crowd, laughing or recording the scene to humiliate him later on? Shouldn't this be the time to get back on him?

_ He was with the ghost after this, probably finishing off the deal or something, _ Dash thought angrily _ , _ slapping himself mentally for not seeing this before. He was mad at Danny, and he couldn't wait till lunchtime. Now thanks to him, he was missing and instead, having a breakdown like a girl who just embarrassed herself in front of her crush. Can things get _ any _ worse?

His hands clenched into fists, begging him to leave the washroom and deliver a well-deserved punch at the boy responsible. But he had to be reasonable and smart about this, knowing that Danny will maybe not even admit it was him or even turn out not to be him in the first place. After all, he didn't have any solid proof that it was him. It could've just been a ghost that wanted to have some fun and chose to play puppet.

And although the idea of wailing on Danny seemed pleasing, he had to stop himself from storming off, reminding himself the reason why he had to remain so calm. If he wanted the prank to go smoothly, he'll have to push his emotions aside so that he can focus on the task.

He was more than eager to start right away with the plan and get it over with so he can have a laugh or two. He wanted to humiliate his rival just like he had done with him. If there was something Dash knew, it was revenge. He definitely cannot let this slide, knowing students will continue to whisper about him for the rest of high school. He had to give the audience something else to focus on, something amusing so that they'll forget whatever happened to him. It had to be something that will be remembered.

"Kwan, how much time do we have till lunch?" the boy asked darkly, his eyes staring boldly at the mirror, not blinking once. The look was enough to shatter the glass contained in it. Even his friend, Kwan took a step back, afraid to answer the simple yet unnerving question. He gulped, nervously rubbing his neck before sighing.

"T-thirty-seven minutes," the boy finally responded, gulping once more to wash away the tension his body was in. However, Dash obliviously ignored the nervousness of his friend and instead sighed annoyingly. He was unaware of the amount of time he had spent in the washroom. The coach was probably wondering where he was now, as he was pretty famous in the sports department so that meant hiding wasn't going to get him far enough. Meanwhile, for the students, they were either talking shit behind his back or waiting nervously for the entrance of the A-lister. If they were smart enough, they would've gone back to fearing him instead because he was gonna get back for whoever talked behind his back. _ That was a promise. _

Dash exited the vacant washroom, his friend following beside him as they headed to their lockers. The hallways were really quiet, and Kwan found it odd that not a single student had left their classroom to go to the washroom. Either they drank less liquid today, or they were afraid to face the wrath of the school bully. Nobody was willing to take the chance of walking into the washroom and confronting Dash. It was like suicide.

Once they got to their desired destination, Dash unlocked his locker and searched through his gym bag, taking his time to examine the other bottles he had. After all, he was in no rush to go back to gym class. They had a lot of time till lunch and class still had twenty minutes left.

He finally took out the 'shampoo' before giving it a quick shake, making sure the water wasn't floating at the top. That would've made things suspicious. It had to look like real shampoo and for that to work, he had to mix the dye and water for a lighter, but still thick substance. Dash then grinned, examining the final results of his mixed chemicals before motioning to his friend to follow. Now all they needed to do was head to their gym class and switch the two alike bottles and get out of here. Well, Dash planned on staying and seeing the final results of his well-planned prank.

When they finally reached the heavy gym doors and pushed it open, they were glad to see that their class was outside in the field, playing soccer. It was quite a sunny day, and although it wasn't that hot, the weather was still nice and they could use some water at the moment. However, the two boys ignored their need to quench their thirst and walked by the basketball court, paying attention to their surroundings.

Now, their gym teacher won't have to ask them why they were late or what they were doing. There wasn't a single soul in the gym court except for the custodian, but he ignored them and continued onto his job. And that's not the best of all. They now didn't have to meet the eyes of their curious and snickering classmates. They weren't ready to meet the questioning glances and Dash still needed to calm down a bit in case he beat up a kid for saying something dumb.

The two boys quickly sneaked into the boy's change room and cautiously peeked in, making sure no one was present. They were afraid _ someone _ was left behind, and Kwan was especially afraid that _ Danny _ would be the one late (since it was always him for some reason). Kwan was afraid that he wouldn't be able to stop Dash from wailing on Danny since there weren't any teachers or students around to protect him.

However, the way they sneaked into the change room was something that came out of a fictional movie. If it weren't for the current situation, their actions would've been almost comical. Once they found out nobody was here, they entered the room and looked for a certain locker, specifically Danny's. They knew his locker had no lock on it since he always managed to either forget his combination or just couldn't open it, so it wasn't hard finding the correct one.

"Dash, here!" Kwan whispered excitedly, pointing to the right locker. Dash grinned and quickly headed to where his friend was standing. Once there, he yanked open the locker door and searched for the boy's shampoo, making the locker messier than before but Dash knew Danny wouldn't suspect a thing, he was always concentrated on other things. Once Dash was sure he held the right shampoo, he switched places with the dye bottle and shut the locker.

"Okay, now that you're finished, I'm leaving," Kwan stated as he waved 'goodbye' to his friend and quickly left, afraid to get caught by a passing teacher or curious student. Dash rolled his eyes at his friend but grinned nevertheless. He was too excited to regard the consequences of his actions. He knew Danny wouldn't suspect a thing, his plan was going perfectly so far. Now, all he had to do was wait until the fish took the bait. And that wouldn't be long since he had only fifteen minutes to go.

* * *

Danny had just finished with the final warm-up when he decided to take a shower. Today, Ms. Tetslaff made them do extra push-ups/sit-ups in advance for the upcoming fitness test and nobody seemed to be in the mood to do anything. If it weren't for the prank earlier, Danny would've complained about his aching sweaty body or for the fact that he got yelled at a couple of times today, though that happened all the time. But a ghostly smile was still visible on his face and it didn't seem that would change anytime soon.

"Nice video," a random student in his class complimented him, as Danny grinned in response, walking to the boy's change-room. Sure Tucker was the one who uploaded it, but it was under Danny's name for his friend didn't seem too keen on being yelled at by Dash after. And even if Danny was kind of afraid of Dash finding out it was him, he could care less. His reputation was increasing because of it, and for once, he didn't mind the attention he was getting. He was enjoying it. When was the last time since he had this much attention? Excluding his hero half, of course.

Another student gave him a high-five in the change-room as he returned it, taking a seat on one of the wooden benches. He ignored the fact that Dash and Kwan were nowhere to be seen and focused on relaxing his exhausted body. Sure he fought ghosts daily, but his body still wasn't the best and he did get tired often, especially when his gym teacher made them run laps all the time (and from Skulker's new weapons yesterday). It was certainly exhausting.

Danny sat there for a while, waiting for the rest of his classmates to take a shower and change so that he could do the same afterward. Danny never particularly liked changing or showering when people were around, even if it was just boys the same age as him. He felt a bit self-conscious and he liked to take his time without feeling some sort of pressure. That's another reason why he never had time for lunch. Either the people changing took too long or there was some sort of ghost he had to fight. He hated it when he was in the middle of showering and a ghost, the Box Ghost specifically, thought it was the perfect time to interrupt him from relaxing. He just hoped that these ghosts decided to take a break and let him rest for _ at least _ one day. He was having a good day and he didn't want _ anyone _ to ruin it.

When Danny realized that they were just wrapping things up, he took out his school clothes and towel from his locker, making sure to also bring his shampoo and soap along. Lunch was about to start in five minutes and so far, not one ghost decided to make an entrance. When there weren't many people around, Danny tried looking for an empty shower stall and when he found one, he neatly placed his clothes somewhere dry and brought his necessities along.

The water was hot today, and he almost believed today would turn out great. After scrubbing his body, he unscrewed the cap from the shampoo bottle and put some on his head, not paying attention to the slightly changed colour of the content. He simply shrugged it off and focused on washing his hair, making sure it was clean enough. After he was satisfied, he rinsed all the excess soap out, making sure there was none at sight.

He turned the tap off and quickly wrapped the oversize towel around his body, shivering from the coldness of the atmosphere. Even though there was hot steam and his body temperature was cold, he still felt a sort of shiver and he was almost worried that there was a ghost nearby and he would have to fight naked. Fortunately, there was no one and he sighed happily, turning intangible so the water would slip itself from his body. He paid no attention to drying his hair and focused on getting dressed first, the chilliness not leaving him.

He then turned to face the full body mirror when he realized something that made him freeze. His hair was..._ white! _ Well, not _ completely _ white, it was more of a light shade of grey but it resembled the same colour he wore when he transformed into Phantom. The sight was certainly unsettling and he shakily forced himself to transform to his ghost self, ignoring his shivering body. He then changed back to his human self and realized the colour was still there.

He was afraid it was permanent. But most of all, he had a million questions in his head. **What in the world had happened to his hair?!** It couldn't have been some ghost symptom or something, right? He had to ask Frostbite if this was normal, but he was sure it wasn't. He didn't know what to say, so he just stood there, facing the mirror in horror.

He walked closer to the mirror, inspecting his hair even further when he realized there were still a few specs of his black hair at the top of his hair. It was mostly the longer strands that were affected. He was confused. It couldn't be his ghost self or his hair would've been completely white. It looked like someone had poorly dyed it!

He then brought his attention to the shampoo that was sitting on the bench and picked it up, unscrewing the lid and peeking through it. The first thing he noticed was the change of colour. He was sure the shampoo he had been using was pale blue and not _ this _. When he poured a little bit of the content at his fingertips, he noticed the texture was also a bit thicker, like glue and it had a different smell of nail-polish. It almost reminded him of the smell of spray paint. But why would he have spray paint shampoo? He had been using the same bottle for two years and the last time he used it was only two days ago. What caused it to be like this? It wasn't like shampoo bottles had expiry dates or something.

But as he further inspected the bottle, he began to realize that it wasn't his. Sure it was the same shampoo _ bottle _ he used but it wasn't the same liquid. Plus, it didn't contain this much last time and he was now sure someone must've left it in his locker purposely.

He tried washing his hair again despite the time. He was sure his friends were probably worried about him even though it happened often. They would've known if he was fighting a ghost by now. Plus, he never took that much time taking a shower so he washed his hair over and over again, hoping for some progress that would prove to him that it wasn't permanent. And although it was dimmer than before meaning it had worn off a bit, which was a great relief, however, the color was still there and it didn't look like it was gonna go anytime soon.

Finally giving up, he took a seat at one of the benches and sighed, not bothering to check if there was water on it. But then a thought crossed his mind as he panicked, even more worried. What if people recognized him as Phantom with the hairdo? All they needed to do now was to Photoshop him in a phantom outfit and there goes his secret identity! He can't risk that happening so what should he do?

Should he... _ cut his hair? _ No, he can't risk that happening either! He wasn't a hairstylist and he would look like a total moron with very short hair. Plus, if he transformed into his ghost form, people would realize Phantom's new hairstyle and it wouldn't be long till they put two and two together. How coincidental is that they are both teenage boys, being around the same height and weight, that also got the same haircut, _ the same day? _ No, he cannot let that happen.

But he can't walk out there like _ that _ either. He needed help, and fast! Danny practically ran to his change-room locker and searched for his phone, ready to call his best friends.

"Tucker! Come fast, to the boy's change-room! I need you- I'll tell you after, this is serious!" Danny quickly yelled, not bothering to answer any of his friends concerning questions. He knew he couldn't have Sam with him here because she was a girl but he needed Tucker for help. It was too risky to search for them outside.

Danny played with his hands, nervous about the whole ordeal and waited patiently for his friend to come. Only a couple of minutes had passed as he heard the door open and his friend entered, his PDA held with him.

However, the two teenage friends weren't aware of the fact that there was also a third person waiting just outside the gym doors. Dash was excited to see the outcome of his plan. He couldn't imagine how Danny would look like with such shade of hair but he waited patiently for him to come out. And when he saw his geeky friend run into the gym with worry, clearly not paying attention to the other boy outside the gym, his grin widened even more. That was a good sign. Danny must've already discovered his new hair colour and was waiting for someone to help him.

Dash waited for a bit but when he realized they wouldn't be coming out anytime soon, he sighed and decided to just see for himself later in the cafeteria. It would be a surprise he didn't want to open until everyone was present so he forced himself to leave before the two boys left the gym doors. It's not like they could hide in there forever, there was still a bunch of time left till next period. He just had to wait.

Meanwhile, when Tucker saw Danny, he was confused. He was wondering why Danny was in his ghost form but was wearing casual clothes. And when he walked closer, he noticed that his eyes were blue too instead of green.

"Dude, what happened? What's with the sudden change, is this some ghost thing or something?" he asked confused, as Danny sighed, shaking his head.

"No, no, it doesn't involve my ghost half. I thought the same too-" Danny was then interrupted by Tucker's laughing as he glared at him. "What's so funny?"

Tucker continued to laugh, his left hand holding onto the railing of the bathroom stall for support while the other one was clutching onto his stomach. His face was highly amused and Danny continued to glare at him, not appreciating the 'support' he was getting. When his friend stopped laughing he looked back at him, before doubling in laughter.

"Finished?" Danny snarled in annoyance, not seeing what was so funny with the whole situation he was in. If anything, it was tense and he tried to mask his nervousness by frustrated anger. When Tucker stopped laughing, he looked at his friend, grinning with amusement.

"No," the male friend replied, laughing for a couple more seconds before the sound finally faded, the only noise being his heavy breathing. The techno-geek looked at his displeased friend with a smile and decided to explain it to him.

"You see, I thought this was some sort of late ghost puberty or something and that just made me laugh even more with your mad childish face. That, and a couple of black specs at the top of your hair makes it look like there is a baby skunk on your head," his friend explained as Danny rolled his eyes, not believing _ that _ was the reason for his amusement.

"Hilarious. Now, can we please focus on the actual problem here. If you haven't noticed, I have light grey hair and someone decided it would be funny to play such a weird prank on me," he said seriously as his friend nodded in agreement, leaning closer to inspect his friend's hair. It indeed looked like someone had poorly dyed the black hair and he tried to force his comical self to lay low for now. It did look serious.

"Hmm, yeah it's nothing related to your ghost half though that would've been funny," his friend said amusingly before holding his hands up in surrender when Danny flashed a pair of green angry eyes at him. "This is light spray paint mixed with a liquid; probably water."

Tucker then walked over to the bathroom sink where the bottle was placed and inspected the contents, pouring some of it on the sink and dipping his ring finger on it. "Water has been added to this to decrease the effects of it. Do you want the good news or bad news?"

"Good," Danny said immediately, eager to hear something that would make him feel better. Tucker nodded, washing his hands after smiling at his friend.

"Well, the good news is that it isn't permanent. It will wear off after some scrubbing and effective shampoo. The bad news is..." the boy continued before sighing at the nervous reaction of his best friend. "This will start to wear off completely only after two weeks. Until then, you can do nothing about it. You can't even dye over it or that'll result in damaged hair and make it look worse than before."

Danny gasped in alarm, his eyes about to burst out. "** _Two weeks?!_ ** You expect me to walk around like-like.. _ like that _ \- **for two weeks!?** Are you _ insane?! _ " The boy yelled out, not believing a word his friend was saying. Did he mean he was gonna have to walk around the school, heck around his town, with white hair, _ without _ being figured out? How was this possible? Sure the citizens here weren't the brightest, but that didn't mean they had no brain!

"Damn man, _ chill out. _ What's so bad with white hair- **oh** ..." Tucker trailed off with realization as he looked at the boy, nervous as well. He now realized that if Danny walked around, _ like that _, he would surely be discovered.

"Tuck, what am I going to do?! I can't walk around like this, it'll be over for me! My secret identity won't be a secret anymore! I can kiss the chances of having a normal life _ goodbye! _" Danny cried out, at this point not caring if someone was listening to their conversation.

"Okay, okay, we need to _ calm down, _people could be listening to us right now! We won't be able to focus like this. First off, we need to know why someone would purposely give you a shampoo bottle of light grey spray paint," before Tucker could complete the sentence, Danny's eyes widened in realization before darkening, flashing green for a couple of seconds.

**"Dash,"** the boy growled, mentioning the name in distaste as his friend raised an eyebrow in confusion before realizing what he meant. _ Of course _, who other than Dash would wanna get revenge; excluding the hundreds of ghosts. He must've known that Danny was somewhat responsible for the prank earlier this morning and wanted to get back at him.

"I love how you instantly know who the culprit is," Tucker chuckled as Danny smiled a bit in response before sighing heavily, frowning.

"Ugh, I'm so stupid! Why didn't I check the shampoo first before layering it all over my hair? I'm so dumb!" the stressed boy cried out, burying his face by his shaking hands as Tucker sat beside him, comforting him. They sat there for a couple of minutes before Tucker decided to say something.

"Hey, why don't we ask Sam? She'll know what to do," he suggested as his friend raised his head, not seeming to reject the idea. Their goth friend always seemed to know what to do, as she was quite intelligent.

Danny nodded in agreement as they both got up and Danny took his stuff with him, making sure he also brought the shampoo along. When they needed to explain this to Sam, they would need this as proof. The boys walked out, Danny cautiously covering his hair with his white shirt. He hoped nobody would see him, knowing it was lunch and everybody was most likely outside or in the cafeteria. Tucker also decided to stand in front of him in case they ran into someone.

"Stay there," Tucker ordered, pointing to the storage room where they always hid in. Sam was inside the cafeteria and he couldn't go in there like this. Who knows how many students were in there! Danny silently complied, quickly running to the end of the hallway and forcing open the heavy door. Tucker would then go into the cafeteria to get Sam and he'll explain the situation to her here.

When Tucker was sure that his friend had left and that there was no one watching them, he opened the cafeteria doors and walked to where his friend was sitting, with Valerie. The trio always sat together but for some reason, Valerie decided to join them today. He didn't ask why though and instead pulled Sam aside to inform her of the problem. Of course, he only told her there was a problem regarding Danny, knowing he didn't have much time to waste. Danny was probably worried that someone might enter the janitor's closet and figure him out. So without further words, he dragged his female friend outside the cafeteria, ignoring the confused glances Valerie was giving them.

Danny panicked for a second when he heard the door being forced open, and quickly transformed into Phantom, prepared to turn invisible. But he then calmed down a bit when he saw it was only his two best friends.

"Guys, what's wrong? You had me worried!" Sam quietly exclaimed, worry evident on her face. Danny transformed back to his human self, preferring to show her instead of explaining. Sam's eyes remained frozen when she saw Danny's hair remain the same colour or changing slightly to a darker shade of white with a few specks of black on top. If it weren't for the current problem, she would've found the scene comical.

"Oh my god... you look so much like Phantom," she mumbled as Tucker rolled his eyes at his friend's obliviousness. Of course, he looked like Phantom, he _ is _ phantom! It doesn't take a genius to figure it out!

On the other hand, Danny groaned and cradled his face using his hands, which were still shaking from before. He couldn't get them to stop! But that was the least of his worries, Sam clearly could tell that he is Phantom! And although that's different, as she already knows his secret and she's smarter than the rest of the school, she could still tell and that was all that mattered. How was he going to get out of this now?

"Great, now all I need is some green contact lenses and a black and white hazmat suit," Danny muttered as his friends chuckled but looked worriedly at him.

"If it makes you better, I have a somewhat good solution," Sam trailed off as that quickly perked up Danny's attention, some hope glimmering on his face. "When we get back from school today, I'll hire a special hairstylist that will surely remove the dye from your hair. But for now, you can borrow one of Tucker's red hats that he keeps extra in his locker."

Tucker nodded in agreement whilst Danny sighed, realizing he'll just have to continue his school day like..._ that _. He appreciated his goth friend's efforts in trying to help him and Tucker's hat too, but he was just worried that he couldn't focus on responding.

"By the way, guess who was behind this," Tucker said but before the goth friend could say something back, he continued. "The one and only bully, Dash. Speaking of which, I have a feeling Kwan was involved in this too."

The female friend crossed her arms together, an 'I-told-you-so' look appearing on her face, but surprisingly, said nothing. Instead, she looked at Danny displeased. Danny sighed angrily, scratching his hair nervously in the progress.

"Look, I get it. You were right about why I shouldn't have played a prank on Dash, all the dangers and such. But I don't regret it, okay? I'm tired of him messing around with me like I'm some wimp, _ which I'm not, _ but he just thinks I am," Danny ranted out, childishly crossing his arms, as he averted his eyes away from his friends. He didn't know if it was because of anger or embarrassment, or shame. Probably a mixture of all.

However, Sam simply just smiled weakly, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder in a comforting manner. "Danny, I'm not going to give you a lecture like some child; that's Jazz's job by the way. What's done is done, there's no point in bringing you down when we know it would do nothing other than start a stupid argument. I'm not blaming you either, I was just worried about you. That's all."

Danny was surprised and he looked up to see Sam smiling warmly at him. He smiled back, and they continued to look at each other for what seemed like forever when Tucker coughed, realizing he was in the middle of a couple.

"Not to break you two lovebirds and all, but we gotta head back to the cafeteria. I don't know about you guys but I need to eat, it's time for my feeding," he stated, looking down at his PDA as the pair blushed, looking away from each other, forgetting to remind their friend that they weren't lovebirds. Instead, they nodded in compliance, realizing they couldn't just stay here forever, as much as Danny wanted.

As the three friends exited the small room, they turned down the hallway and speed-walked to Tucker's locker to collect the extra red cap. Tucker quickly unlocked his locker and searched inside, rummaging through his school worksheets. When he finally found it, he handed it over to Danny who silently thanked him.

"Here, use these," his female friend said, handing Danny some purples barrettes as he looked at her confused.

"What, why?" he asked as she rolled her eyes and was about to place one on his hair but he took a step back, holding both his hands up. "Hey! There's no way I'm wearing that!"

"They are supposed to keep your hair in place dummy. Now keep still," she said as he shook his head in protest, taking a step back. There was no way he was going to be seen with them, _ even _ if he had a hat on top. Wearing Tucker's red cap was enough, now this?

"Yeah, _ not _ happening. Keep them to yourself, Sam, I'm not wearing those," he stubbornly said, refusing to be seen with them. His female friend sighed in defeat, placing the purple barrettes back in her skirt pockets. Tucker, on the other hand, was grinning but said nothing, afraid his two friends will not take it too well.

Danny adjusted the cap on his head, making sure his white hair wasn't peeking out. And although the barrettes could've helped, he remained stubborn, refusing to put them on his hair. His friends also helped him with his hair and even suggested wearing a hood to cover it in case. But Danny mentioned how he would look suspicious and it would be best if he just stuck with the red hat.

The trio walked to the cafeteria, each step holding a ton on Danny's shoulder. He didn't know why he was nervous, after all, he had managed to hide his hair well with the help of his friends. And Danny knew he couldn't hide here forever, he had to face them sometime soon whether he liked it or not.

As soon as the trio entered the cafeteria, Danny instantly regretted ever coming in, his confidence dropping lower than his math grades. Everybody was staring at them weirdly and although it didn't seem like it was humoured, it wasn't good staring either. His two friends forced him to continue walking to their original seat, nudging him now and then.

"You know, your horrified expression is making them stare at you more," Sam dryly said, nudging him by the shoulder when he froze for a second.

"Very funny, Sam," Danny weakly replied, trying to force an annoyed look at his friend but didn't have the energy to. Sam sighed at his response, wishing he would've at least glared at her, then she would be more relieved.

All Danny wanted to do right now was run out of the cafeteria doors and to the safety of his home, _ somewhat _. But then he got reminded that he can't do that either when his parents notice the new look. As soon as they notice the white hair, he's a goner. At this point, he even considered turning invisible but that would be too suspicious in front of everybody. He even wished any ghost would interrupt, even Skulker, but to his misfortune, the blue mist never appeared. If only Desiree was present.

They were so close to their destination, but Danny never really got what he wanted.

"What's up, Fenturd?" a voice said behind as Danny froze, his face turning ten times paler than usual. He fearfully turned around to where the sound was coming from, knowing full well who it was. He wished that a miracle would happen and a ghost, _ any ghost _, would show up to kick his butt but no luck.

"Wow, would you look at that. It looks like you've just seen a ghost!" Dash snickered, the jocks around him chuckling along. Dash had already explained to them about the prank and they all seemed excited to see the outcome.

_ Worse than any ghost I've encountered, _ Danny thought mentally but said nothing out loud, afraid he'll say something stupid and ruin the disguise he managed to pull off. If he wanted to finish the day off, he was gonna have to go along with what Dash said and swallow his pride. No matter how much he wanted to add a snarky remark.

"Go away Dash, we're not in the mood," Tucker said annoyingly, mentally rolling his eyes as the jock raised one of his eyebrows, bringing his eyes back to the victim.

"Hmm, I don't think I will. Say, Fenton, why are you so quiet today? I thought you would've said something by now, especially after the incident earlier this morning," he responded casually, smirking in response as Danny fought ever the urge to not grin. He must've figured out already, no surprise. His prank was indeed great but he couldn't show him his pleased reaction or Dash will play the other side of the game.

"Just get it over with Dash. _ I'm busy, _" Danny soberly said, making sure to hide his amused yet nervous expression from his rival. If he wanted to get out of here alive, he was gonna have to play it cool and hope for the best. Dash, however, ignored Danny's comment and took a step forward, wearing an amused grin.

"Nice hat, got it from Sucker, right?" he questioned as Danny nervously looked around while Tucker frowned, opening his mouth to correct him but stopped when he met Danny's eyes. He just wanted to get it over with. Danny nodded in response to Dash's question, hoping it was the last one but little did he know it was just the beginning.

"Why are you so nervous? Are you hiding something?..." he trailed off and Danny shook his head quickly before turning to face his friends, silently asking for help. "Are you afraid I'll do something like..this," Dash suddenly took a quick step forward, as if pretending to take off Danny's hat. Danny reacted quickly, pushing himself out of the way as he clutched onto the hat on top of his hair, depending on it like it was his life. Dash wore an amused expression as he turned around to face the captive crowd.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I'm aware that my prank would make you forget what happened earlier this morning. Consider this as a warning to everyone that thinks it's funny to **ever** oppose me," he said darkly and before any of them, including Danny, could utter a word, Dash quickly pulled over and snatched the hat off of Danny's head. Unfortunately, he was too late this time to move out of the way. The action alone was shocking. His hair pulled along towards the direction the hat was snatched from, making it more messier than usual. It was the same style Danny wore when he was Phantom and in the middle of a fight. Everybody gasped, including the jocks when they saw the reveal of Danny's hair color, some of it now covering his left eye.

Danny hesitantly patted his head, making sure this was not a dream and the hat was still placed but to his horror, there was nothing on top. He wanted to run, scream crazily but he stood there, frozen. He was afraid, would they recognize him?

Not only was Danny shocked but so was the crowd, even Dash and the rest of the jocks. Nobody dared to say anything, afraid that one word would affect everyone. Dash was lightly holding onto the red hat, staring dumbfounded at the person who resembled his hero. The shampoo had worked effectively all right, but he wasn't expecting _ anything _ like this.

"Y-you... you look a lot like Phantom," Kwan finally said, breaking the silence as the rest of the jocks nodded their heads slowly in agreement, not finding the right words to continue. The rest of the students just continued to stare at the boy with white hair, trying to put the pieces together. Could...could it be?

"Ahah, t-that's funny. Why would I be the Phantom?" Danny nervously stuttered out, smiling at them like they were nuts. He can't just let his cover blow like that, knowing as soon as he admitted he was a ghost, the whole world would know about it in less than an hour. _ Thanks to social media. _

"Yeah, that's impossible! Danny is a human, not a ghost like Phantom!" Tucker also said, trying to defend his friend as he stepped beside him. Sam was also about to step in and add another fact when she got interrupted by a certain blonde jock.

"I can't believe I'm saying this but, Kwan's right. You look vaguely similar to Phantom..." Dash trailed off and Danny shook his head quickly, looking at his friends for support.

"Just because he looks like him doesn't mean he _ is _ ," Sam stated, which earned a few nods from the crowd while the rest just looked unsure at her, not buying it. Danny hated to say this but the people here weren't _ that _dumb.

"Um, hello? Danny Fenton. Danny **Phantom** ? They have the same first name and their last names sound the same too," a bold student from the crowd said intelligently while he continued. "Plus, they _ do _ have the same body shape and head too."

"Haha, how do they look alike? Phantom is all buff and muscular while Danny here is just wimpy," Tucker said as Danny glared at him from the corner of his eye. If it weren't for the situation, he would've protested and explained how his baggy clothes were the ones that made him look so small.

"Hmm, I don't know...They seem to have the same body shape to me..." another student said as some nodded in agreement while others just continued to gawk at him.

"Danny... Are you Phantom?" Dash simply asked, staring at him with guilt hidden beneath his eyes. He didn't know why but something about Danny made him look very similar to Phantom. He didn't know why he hadn't noticed the similarities before, probably because he never paid attention or compared them together.

"You guys are seriously weird. How can I be-" before Danny could even complete his sentence, a cold wisp appeared from his mouth, alerting him of a nearby ghost. Everybody looked at him in confusion, while the jocks raised an eyebrow.

"Are you okay? Why's there smoke coming out of your mouth? It's not even cold today," Dash said confusedly as Danny took a step back, also confused as to how they noticed it. But before he can say anything, a ghost phased from the ceiling, specifically the Box Ghost.

"I am the box ghoooost! _ Fear me! _ " the 'scary' ghost stated, his voice echoing through the cafeteria as Danny and his friends rolled their eyes. Of all the ghosts that could've appeared, the most annoying one had to show up. But that's not what annoyed Danny the most. The fact that a ghost had to come out _ after _ Dash revealed his hair is what made him frustrated. And although he wasn't complaining since he didn't want to come up with an excuse in response to Dash's question, he was still annoyed.

"Gimme a break," Danny muttered under his breath so no one would hear. But before he could do anything, he got the feeling that people were still staring at him. So he looked at the crowd, instantly wishing he hadn't. He was right, they were still staring at him, waiting for something to happen. He raised an eyebrow at them as if asking why they weren't running around but then he sighed, realizing the Box Ghost wasn't scary anyway.

"What're you guys waiting for? **Runoff,**" the goth female growled, noticing the discomfort of her ghost friend. Some people stepped back, slowly walking out but still looking back to see if they would miss anything while the others just stayed, not budging. Danny sighed heavily, realizing he couldn't 'go ghost' here so he decided to leave as well to the male restroom.

_ Today's going to be a long day, _ Danny thought mentally before letting the two blue rings wash over him, turning him into his ghost half.

* * *

_ And I thought today couldn't get any worse, _Danny inwardly groaned, not focusing. He wanted to get this over with but he couldn't do anything without all the curious questions being thrown at him every minute. And he had trouble throwing shots at the annoying ghost with all the people around, afraid he'll hurt someone by accident.

He motioned to Sam to unscrew the Fenton thermos so that they can capture the other ghost who managed to appear after the box ghost.

_ So now they decide to show up, _ Danny dryly thought to himself, annoyed both at the ghosts and his classmates. They were making this ten times harder than any other time. That's one of the reasons why he didn't seem too keen on revealing his identity.

"You got this Danny!" a student yelled from the crowd, breaking his concentration as he raised an eyebrow at the comment. He's never heard anyone call him Danny before, that is, in his ghost form. They either referred to him as Inviso-bill, Ghostboy, or Phantom. _ Never _ Danny.

After the last ghost was done with, Danny quickly flew to the washroom so he could revert to his human self before anybody questioned him any further. He then slowly exited the restroom, not feeling excited about the next class. He wanted to avoid people at all costs and ask Tucker for another extra red hat. At least then, it would be less awkward and people wouldn't pay too much attention.

But before he could take one step down the hallway, he was pulled by a certain someone. Or people in this case.

"What-" before Danny could say anything else, he was silenced when he noticed who these people were. Dash, Kwan, Paulina, Star, and a couple more jocks and cheerleaders- basically all the people who half hated him. Surprisingly, there wasn't a crowd following them as usual, _ in fact, _ nobody was in the hallways except for them.

"Say, Danny, where were you during the ghost fight that happened in the cafeteria?" Dash asked suspiciously as Danny's eyes perked up, noticing how Dash didn't give him a nickname. Nothing about today seemed normal to him.

"Um, I was at the washroom obviously," he nervously said, fidgeting with his fingers. _ Nice going, Fenton, _ he mentally added.

"For twenty minutes?" Kwan asked, raising an eyebrow as everybody continued to look at him, or look at his hair anyway.

"Y-yeah," he stuttered, trying to find a good excuse as to why he would spend a bunch of time in the washroom. "I was, uh, washing my hair."

They continued to stare at him, not believing the poor excuse the boy had come up with on the spot. They were now one hundred percent sure that Danny was Phantom; same hair, same body, the same face, the same voice, the list goes on.

"Why don't you wanna tell us?" Paulina asked all of a sudden as he mentally rolled his eyes, forcing himself not to say anything stupid. He could come up with a list as to why he wouldn't want to tell anyone, _ especially them _, but it would continue till sunset.

"Why don't you guys just leave him alone?" Sam angrily retorted back, running up to Danny so that she was beside him. He mentally thanked her, knowing you wouldn't have known what to say afterward. Tucker also came by, standing on the other side.

"Yeah! If he doesn't want to tell you then let him be!" Tucker yelled out, not paying attention to what he meant by that. Danny glared at him while Tucker looked at him confused, not knowing why he was mad. But then he took a moment to realize what he said and shot Danny a guilty look.

Surprisingly, none of the jocks said anything to him, they just continued to stare at him, scrutinizing them closely. By this point, Danny ran out of stuff to say and he was about to admit that he is indeed Phantom. The rumour was going to get passed on anyway and they already had enough evidence to prove it.

"Listen, guys, I-" Danny was suddenly interrupted by Dash as he signalled his group to leave, leaving them with only Kwan, Star and Paulina by his side.

"It's okay, you don't have to say anything. Tell us when you need anything," Dash simply said, as his friends nodded, while Danny just stood there, confused. They then left, but before that, Paulina smiled at him and winked.

"I've finally wrapped myself around the idea of 'Paulina Fenton'" she said, blowing a kiss as she left as well, while the trio just stood there shocked.

"Okay, I'm feeling relieved and nauseated at the same time," Sam said, rolling her eyes as the two friends chuckled at her behaviour, but one question remained in their minds.

_ What just happened? _

* * *

The next day felt somewhat normal yet different at the same time. For starters, yesterday during class went slowly, especially with the same stares from the cafeteria but Danny ignored it. And right after school, Danny went over to Sam's where she hired a special hairstylist who managed to get the chemicals off his hair without dying or damaging it. He was extremely thankful for that. He also got a small haircut along the way since his hair was beginning to cover his eyes and he couldn't fight ghosts with blocked eyesight.

And the next day, there were still the occasional stares even though he washed the white off his hair, but nobody bothered with the questions this time. They just let him get through school and the regular ghost fights. Even the jocks and cheerleaders left him alone, and that was weird. They were acting nice to him, offering to help him with school stuff or to sit with them during lunch to which Danny declined.

The thing was they weren't mad at him. Even Dash stopped wailing on him and showed kindness.

But the weirdest part of the day was no one outside of Casper High knew about the hair incident. Even the parents. Danny thought it was impossible for the students to not share this online but he was wrong. His parents weren't aware of the situation which was a surprise since they always watched the news and the trio wouldn't believe it.

Life for Danny was now much easier. They knew his secret but respected his wishes of not revealing it to the world. He still had some crazy fans now and then during school, but it was better than having them all the time. Plus, he liked the attention a bit and he was glad now that he wasn't chosen last for dodge-ball or a math project. He can finally fight ghosts during school without coming up with excuses or the tense pressure of keeping his identity a secret. He even suspected that the teachers secretly knew about this and why they never marked him absent or demanded complete homework.

Danny, for once, started liking school even though math remained his least favourite subject.

* * *

**Word Count: 13 469**


	6. Chapter Four: Photoshop is a Pain

**A/N: Hey! So I'm sorry for the slow update, I had exams and I wanted to study and all so I can get a good mark. Plus, I have summer school starting on July 2 because I'm taking an extra course so I'll be quite busy as well since Canada day is July 1. But don't worry, I'll be updating more often because it's still summer break!**

* * *

It was a Sunday night when Danny decided it was wise to play his favourite computer game with his best friend, Tucker. Although the two friends were supposed to be studying for their upcoming math test, they were stressed out by the number of ghosts that were appearing more frequently than usual in the past two weeks. Why? They still don't know but they didn't bother asking, knowing they were more likely to not receive an answer. Playing 'Doomed' always managed to bring their spirits up though which explained why the internet was bad today.

Danny was exhausted, and he tried to hide it from his parents, although that wasn't exactly hard, knowing he had Jazz to cover up using her psychological nonsense. His friends were aware of it and suggested that he take a break and let them fight some ghosts instead. And just two days ago, the whole trio took a break and let the Fenton's and GIW handle them while Danny caught up on sleep and school work. After all, his marks weren't the best and exams were coming up quicker than the number of ghosts exiting the Fenton portal.

Summer break was just one month away and Danny was excited. He was going to use the time to sleep and not stress over any school projects and books. Plus, he could use a break from his annoying classmates and obsessive ghosts.

But for now, he had to focus on his studies. Danny and Tucker both knew that they **_should_ ** be studying but they couldn't seem to take their heads off the game. Sam was also playing the game, which she proved was good at, but she had to leave an hour ago, saying she had to study and suggested they do the same. However, the two male friends ignored her and resumed their game, focusing on defeating the last pixel villain.

The clock was ticking and it was almost one am. Danny usually stayed up till three am playing this game, or fighting some ghosts, but he knew he had to stop soon or he would never get the sleep he needed.

_ Aren't we supposed to be studying for the math test tomorrow? _ Danny typed, quickly averting his attention to the game in progress.

_ Nah, I'll do it tmr morning. I mean, how hard can it possibly be? _ Tucker typed back as Danny paused the game, knowing they needed to take a break and talk some more about the small problem they were currently facing. **Game addiction.**

_ Idk man. Lancer's gonna kill us if we fail another test, me especially, _ Danny replied, not feeling so confident anymore about skipping studying.

_ I think your curiosity already beat him to it lol, _Tucker typed, earning an eye roll from his friend. Did he ever mention that his friend had the worst jokes ever?

_ Haha, very funny Tuck. But srsly tho, we should probably listen to Sam... _ Danny typed back, after shaking his head annoyingly at his friend's joke.

_And risk losing the last level left? Criminal. Come on Danny, it's for only 1 night, lightin' up a little_ _man_, his friend typed back, earning a groan by Danny. Oh, he was so going to regret this in the morning.

* * *

And he absolutely did.

The two friends spent last night, or should I say, early morning, playing 'Doomed' until three am. And if Danny hadn't convinced Tucker that they had a test to study for and that they'll have time tomorrow to continue their game, they would've gone up to six in the morning. Talk about procrastination at it's best.

Danny walked to school the next morning with heavy dark bags under his eyes, hanging like sags of chocolate milk. His white shirt with the red oval in the middle was crinkled because he was rushing in the morning to get it on, hanging loosely on his body, giving it no frame whatsoever. Sure Danny didn't have the perfect body like the jocks did in his school, but he did have muscles and framed arms and chest from all the ghost fighting. His hands and fingers looked swollen red, decorated from the tip of his finger to his biceps. It was most likely caused by all the typing and leaning forward on the computer than the ghosts themselves.

He had to drag his legs along, forcing them to reach his locker so he can at least get his books and walk to his first class to get some sleep. Danny was glad Dash hadn't picked on him yet, or he would've seriously collapsed on the floor right there. He did regret staying up late. He reminded himself to stop listening to his best friend for a change.

Tucker wasn't any better, wearing the same look, with the heavy bags hanging from his eyes and slugging body that looked to have no life in them. It was clear to Sam that her friends have indeed not listened to her advice _ (not like she was expecting them to) _ and decided to continue with their game to who knows how long. Her brain was urging her to scold them for not listening to her but she forced herself not to.

Danny phased his arm into the locker, too tired to open it like a human being. At this point, he didn't care if someone had seen him turn his hands intangible. If they did, it was not like they were gonna believe he was a ghost. It was morning. _ Nobody _ was fully awake.

He grabbed his binders and books, flipping through them and checking to see he had everything he needed, his mind however still not entirely focused in school. He then turned to face his female friend, who was looking at him like how a mother would look at a kid when they were caught guilty with cookies.

Sam opened her mouth to say something smart but then stopped herself, shaking her head instead. She knew it wouldn't do her any good if she scolded him. After all, he wasn't a child and he didn't need someone to teach him. That was Jazz's job.

"_ Oh _. Hey," he finally said, noticing that his friends were present and looking at him, as the pair rolled their eyes.

"Glad you noticed. For a second, I thought we turned ghost instead," Sam dryly said as Tucker chuckled. Instead of replying with a snarky remark, Danny shook his head instead, walking in front of them and down to the hallway.

"Sorry. I'm feeling kind of tired today," he said, waving it off.

"You think?" Tucker replied as the two friends followed after Danny, catching up to him.

"Danny, we gave you an extra week to catch up on sleep and school. But you spent the whole time playing 'Doomed' with Tucker," Sam said in dismay, crossing her arms.

"I haven't played the game since the time Lancer made me study for an exam and when Technus decided to rule the technology world. Shouldn't I have time to do something I _ want _ to do, like a normal _ human _ boy?" Danny retorted back, stopping to turn to face his female friend and make sure nobody had heard what he said.

"Danny, I'm not telling you not to have fun every once in a while, in fact, I want you to go out and spend less time dealing with those troublemaking ghosts. Honestly, it pains me to see you protecting the city when you're just a teenage boy who has school and fun to experience. But you should also spend the time getting the sleep you need and getting good grades on school work, especially since exams are soon," she explained, sighing a bit before starting to walk again, motioning her two male friends to follow her.

"I guess you're right. I'll try to be more productive today," he finally replied, as Sam nodded, satisfied with his answer before taking his arm and leading him to the other direction. He was walking to the wrong class and she couldn't help but shake her head.

"Where are you going? We don't have Phys. ed now, we got math, remember? Man, those games Tucker made you play must've seriously messed with your brain," she stated teasingly as Tucker muttered a 'hey!' in response which earned an eye roll by Danny.

"What are you going to do? Get Spectra to deal with my mental health state?" Danny joked, following his two friends as Tucker chuckled but to his surprise, Sam only grinned.

"Nah, I think I'll just get your sister to take care of you," she casually said, diverting her eyes away from Danny as he scowled, afraid she wasn't joking.

"_ I swear _ if you guys tell Jazz **anything** about this-"

The goth and techno-geek broke into fits of laughter, continuing their way to class as Danny rolled his eyes annoyed at them, but a smile was tugging at the edge of his lips.

"Damn man, I didn't know you were afraid of her _ that _ much. Is it because she keeps shoving you into the Fenton thermos?" Tucker asked in between chuckles as Sam grinned in response. Danny only frowned, walking further away from them.

"Hey! I was only joking, come back here Danny!" Tucker yelled from behind, the pair running up to catch up with their friend who was now ignoring them. But inside, Danny felt better than earlier in the morning, the smile now visible on his face.

_ If only he knew it wouldn't last long. _ ** _(A/N: AGAHAHH I'm sO sorRy guYs)_ **

* * *

"So how do you think you guys did on the test?" Sam asked after the trio walked out of their math class. Surprisingly, Danny didn't fall asleep and actually finished the test in time.

"I think I did okay. I mean, it's just _ one _ math test, what could go wrong?" Tucker said, shrugging uncaring though there was some amusement lying in his face. Danny, however, ignored his friend's weird expression and groaned at his current situation, scratching his hair out of frustration. His friends knew he was terrible at math and just the mention of it was a pain in the head.

"I probably failed. If my parents find out about this, my curfew will be moved to 9 instead of 10. And knowing the box ghost, I doubt he'll have mercy and let me get any sleep" he murmured annoyed, rubbing his temple as the two friends followed Danny to his locker.

"And you don't have an actual excuse for it either this time for failing the test. Not like you could've told them before," Sam pointed out as Danny shot her an unimpressed look, not wanting to hear another lecture about responsibility.

"I'm starting to think you're Jazz in disguise," he muttered as his female friend rolled her eyes.

"You're always the man with the jokes," she replied dryly, as Danny smirked but before he could retort back, he noticed something in his locker that wasn't there before, making him freeze.

Inside his locker, although it was quite messy and papers were about to explode out of the dirty shelves, the visible picture stood out between everything else. The thing is, the picture wasn't even his! And it wasn't an ordinary one too.

But he pushed the thought aside that someone had known his locker code (since it wasn't possible to stick it through a slip) and focused on the contents of the picture. In the photo, were pictures of two specific people. One of Danny Phantom, a picture you could've gotten on Google but that wasn't what worried him. Next to the picture was a picture of him, Danny _ Fenton _, in the same hero outfit he wore in his ghost half. The two pictures were shown to compare the 'two' boys and when he flipped the photo over, there was a chilling sentence. He almost thought there was a ghost nearby because of his uncontrollable shivering.

_ 'I know who you are' _ it said.

"Um guys, you might want to see this," he said, holding the piece of paper like it was full of contagious germs. Sam looked over his shoulder curiously, wanting to know what caused the sudden mood of her friend when her eyes quickly widened to saucers.

"**Oh**," she quietly said, taking the photo out of Danny's hands to inspect it herself. For thirty seconds, nobody said anything, except for the sound of Danny's heavy breathing. Sam was looking at him worryingly every now and then, trying to find the right words to say.

Danny looked over at Tucker to see what his reaction would be but was surprised when he was met with a pair of gleaming eyes and a huge smirk plastered all over his face. Danny raised an eyebrow, asking _ 'what's so funny?' _ when their techno-geek friend burst into laughter. Some students looked over at him in confusion but ignored him nevertheless, assuming he was reading some weird geek stuff on his PDA.

The two friends, however, looked at him with bewilderment, not understanding what was going on. Was he okay? Was a ghost overshadowing him? Did he get hit on the head or something? So many questions but little answer. They were even considering taking him to a hospital but they knew he wouldn't go near it.

"Tucker, have you been reading too much fanfiction?" she asked, knowing how much the boy loved reading comics and fanfiction during his leisure time. However, all the techno-geek did was glare for a millisecond before resuming to chuckle a bit more, snatching the photo out of their hands.

"Oh my god, that was priceless! I can't believe it worked! I _ definitely _ got you there," he amusingly said, ripping the paper in half as the two friends stared at him in shock.

"**What the hell do you think you're doing?!** That was our only evidence!" Sam exclaimed, about to explode on Tucker when he held his hands up as if to defend himself. Danny, on the other hand, was still shocked over what happened in the last five minutes and took time to process all of this, since the math test he finished a couple of minutes ago kind of messed with his brain.

"Tucker, you can be an absolute **idiot** sometimes," Danny said calmly, anger and confusion hidden beneath his voice. He tried to push in the green eyes that were flashing rapidly so it wouldn't raise suspicion by the passing students.

"Guys, guys, hear me out! This isn't real, _ none of it is _ . The photo, the note- _ all of it, _ was my doing! It was supposed to be a funny prank and I think it did its job well," Tucker smirked, though looked at them cautiously, preparing himself for the fury of his two friends. The two froze, a whole set of news splattered across them as they just stared at him, not even blinking.

"Danny, would you like to do the honours of stuffing grass in his mouth for a whole hour?" Sam asked calmly, bringing her attention to Danny as he nodded in agreement. The two looked at the prankster responsible for their anxiousness as he chuckled nervously, holding his red hat.

"Heh he- you guys are joking, right? Right?" he asked, trying to figure out if they were serious or not though, by the looks they were giving him, they seemed pretty determined to do so.

"Okay, we split it up. I do half, and you do half. Sounds fair?" Danny suggested with complete seriousness in his voice as Sam nodded and they looked at the now nervous boy.

"Um, don't we have phys. ed right now? Wouldn't want Ms. Tetslaff lashing on us, would we? I better go now!" Tucker quickly stuttered out, immediately running away, not giving them a second glance. All he knew was that he had to get out of there quickly before they would continue with their evil plan. Sure he hated school, but that didn't mean he was ready to die soon!

* * *

Tucker ended up not dying later in the day, unlike his ghost friend, but he did receive dirty looks from his still angry friends. They, however, didn't try stuffing him with grass since he kept a good distance away from them. Sam and Danny then decided to take back their revenge and just forget it ever happened but before they can say anything to Tucker, who seemed nowhere to be found, they were starting to get weird glances from people.

"Hey, is it me or everybody's staring at you weirdly?" Sam whispered to Danny as he nodded in agreement, walking at a slower pace. For the first time, excluding his ghost half, he was starting to receive some strange attention. He hoped it was for a good reason and not just some mad rumour.

"Uh-huh, and I'm starting to think either it's some rumour Dash spread about me or we're just paranoid," he replied, now eager to find his techno-geek for answers. If it was spread online, Tucker would have surely been the first one to know and tell them.

"I'm honestly not sure I even have the answer to that," Sam said back, pushing Danny to walk faster so they could get quicker to Tucker. They didn't even know where he was, but they couldn't just stand there and let them continue to stare at them, particularly at Danny.

The two friends continued their search for Tucker who was currently not present. Where was he? They even checked the nurse's office even though they knew he would never end up there. That's how desperate they were.

And then, as if God was listening to their prayers, they found their geeky friend who seemed to be worried about something.

He was outside of school since it was lunchtime, and his bag of chips seemed to be sitting on the wooden table, untouched. That scenario alone was suspicious, considering Tucker loved food and never missed his hourly feeding. Instead, he was pacing around the table, deep in thought of something. If their situation was urgent, they would've tried scaring him but they were more concerned for him. Did he have a doctor's appointment or something?

"Hey, Tuck! Why are you so worried?"Danny asked, his voice laced with concern, confused why his friend looked like he was on the verge of fainting.

"Is it because of our threat? Well then, don't worry about it, we gave up trying to tie you up halfway. You should be thankful," Sam explained, shrugging as she looked at Tucker but frowned when she saw that he still looked pale.

"Um Tucker, we just said we won't force you into eating Sam's usual diet. Why do you still look like a ghost?" Danny asked jokingly, though he was trying to have his friend at least say something, even a bad joke.

"I- Guys, I made a huge mistake," Tucker finally said, holding onto his red cap nervously. He looked to have trouble breathing properly and his friends were wondering if they should make him visit a doctor.

"Yeah, when you decided to give us a heart attack in the morning. But we're all over that now, we came here to ask you for something," Sam explained, reassuring him that they didn't come to get their revenge but that wasn't helping him. In fact, he seemed to grow even paler.

"Guys, I'm-I'm so sorry- I didn't know, I just- Just don't get mad at me!" Tucker sputtered out as his friends looked at him like he was speaking gibberish. What did he mean by that? Sam and Danny exchanged glances before deciding on the same opinion.

"Okay, that's it, we're taking you to the doctor," Danny said, grabbing ahold of Tucker's arm as he quickly pulled his hands away, holding them in a worried manner.

"No, no, I'm fine! Just- ugh I don't know how to explain this to you!" Tucker said, going back to holding his cap as Sam held onto his shoulders in a comforting manner.

"Yeah, by the looks of it. Okay, take deep breaths and just don't say anything," she demanded, forcing him to inhale and exhale calmly. He did as told and after a minute, he nodded as to say he was ready to talk.

"Okay, just nod or shake your head, for now, got it?" Danny asked as Tucker nodded. "Good. Now tell us, are you worried because we said we'll continue our revenge?"

Tucker shook his head 'no' and the pair sighed in relief. Well, now they knew they weren't the source of his distress.

"Is this related to the prank, in any way?" Sam asked as he nodded.

"Is this something bad, like, **really** bad?" Danny asked which, unfortunately, earned a nod.

"Hmm, is this related to me or Danny?" Sam asked.

"Danny."

"Okay, that doesn't sound anywhere near good, I suppose. Am I the one responsible though?" Danny asked, hoping he didn't do something wrong to upset his friend.

"Actually no, it's all my fault this is happening right now," Tucker replied shortly as his friends looked at him, eager for an actual explanation of what was going on.

"Well, remember the photo you saw in your locker this morning?" Tucker asked nervously as his friends nodded. "So I had another one, somewhere in my binder in case I lost the original one or something. Turns out, I did lose it. Or so I thought."

"That can't be good," Sam muttered, narrowing her eyes as Danny sighed, shaking his head. When was the last time they ever received good news?

"Well, it turns out a certain _ 'someone' _ stole that photo and um, made copies of it to attach all around the school," Tucker mumbled, hoping they didn't hear it but they sure did.

"**WHAT?!**" The two friends said in unison, not believing what they were hearing.

"Guys, I'm so sorry! I was too scared to tell you guys so I decided to handle it on my own and take them all out but I was too late. Half the school already saw it and to make things worse, they also decided to post it online on the school website and it's trending. Like, literally the talk of the school," he rambled, trying to stop himself from worrying his ghost friend even more.

"Oh my god Tucker," Danny groaned as he turned to face the students who were still whispering, most likely about him.

"Danny, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to do it! I tried to stop but-but..." Tucker stuttered out as Sam sighed.

"Well, it's not like we can do anything now, right?" Sam said as Danny felt the colour drain from his face, turning to lean onto a nearby tree.

"I-i, who do you think it is?" Danny sputtered out before realization dawned on him. Of course, the only person capable of believing and even doing it.

"Wes Weston," Sam grumbled as Tucker nodded, his hands clutching the PDA in his hands. Not even his precious game could help him wash away the nervousness.

"Oh, what am I going to do? Nobody can know my secret!" Danny whispered frantically to his friends.

"Not with your loud voice. But hey, look on the bright side. People are blind, I doubt they'll be able to comprehend that you're Phantom. They're just stupid pictures after all," Sam explained, as Tucker nodded, calming down a bit.

"Yeah, Danny! They've never noticed the similarities before so why would they now?" Tucker added on as Danny nodded at them appreciatively.

"Well, you sure seem calmer now Tuck," Danny pointed out as the techno-geek grinned.

"I was mostly worried about your wrath, really Sam's. She's scarier than you when she's mad, and that's saying a lot since you're a ghost," he teased as Danny rolled his eyes but smiled, feeling a bit better while Sam simply chuckled.

"I'm glad I have such an effect on you. But don't worry, by tomorrow morning, expect this to be yesterday's news and be back with a whole new set of rumours-"

"Hey Fenton!" a familiar voice yelled as Danny gulped internally, knowing fully well who the voice belonged to. Everybody else had gone from whispering to silence. Danny could now hear his heartbeat from how quiet it got.

The blonde jock walked over to the nervous boy with a familiar paper at his hand. His face looked determined, wanting instant answers.

"Um, what can I do for you, Dash?" Danny asked, hoping he would just verbally abuse him and leave him be. He was in no mood to deal with Dash's attitude today, and if it was related to the latest rumour, count him out.

"I heard something today and I want the truth," he said, holding out the dreaded photo of the same two boys. "Does this ring any bells?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Danny unemotionally said, making sure to make eye contact but not too long to make Dash beat him up. Surprisingly, the jock ignored the boy's comment and didn't grab onto him or physically attack him. He didn't even insult him yet, though Danny didn't want to jinx himself.

"I'm being serious here, Fentur-. Just tell me, is this true? Like, are you Phantom?" Dash asked again but stronger and filled with determination. Danny looked nervously at the crowd, noticing all of them listening attentively.

"No Dash, I'm not a ghost. I'm alive, see?" he said, looking back up and holding out his hands. The crowd started to nod at his sentence. After all, everybody knew Danny was a human, so how can he suddenly be a ghost? "Seriously, me and Phantom look nothing alike-"

"Liar," a voice said as Danny stopped to look at the source of the voice. "He's lying. You look exactly like him, except for the hair and eyes which you can easily change using a wig/hair dye and eye contacts"

"Shut up, Wes," Sam growled, knowing the boy wouldn't stop until he revealed Danny's identity. She didn't know how he would benefit from any of this but she wasn't going to let him continue exposing her friend like that. "You better keep your mouth shut before I come there and zip it for you."

Wes didn't seem fazed by the female goth's threat and continued. "I mean, is it a coincidence that they also have the same name and their last name's rhyme? You can also see the two pictures for all the obvious similarities."

"I'm not dead though!" Danny exclaimed, panicking on the inside. This dude was seriously going to get him in trouble one day and he had to stop him now before the day is today. "That could've been any picture you found online."

"Actually, I'm aware that your geeky friend was the one responsible for comparing your two halves, am I right?" Wes asked, raising an eyebrow but said nothing when he didn't receive a response and left instead, confident that the whole school would believe him now.

"Can you show us?" Dash asked, followed by a rest of 'yeah's' and nods.

"Show you what?" Danny asked, confused as they looked at him seriously before he understood what they were talking about.

"Do you guys seriously believe that _ psycho _? He's been talking about me for ages now, he's crazy! I told you, I'm not Phantom!" Danny groaned loudly before taking the hands of both his friends and dragging them inside the school.

"Danny, again, I'm so sorry-"

"It's okay Tuck, it's not your fault. If only that kid hadn't stepped in, I could've convinced them I wasn't a ghost," Danny grumbled as Sam smiled at him weakly and together, they walked to their next class that was going to start in three minutes. For the first time, Danny was going to be early for class.

* * *

Danny did not come early to class that day. Unfortunately, Johnny 13 decided to strike again and brought Shadow along. As if Danny wasn't having bad luck already. Everybody knew there was a ghost fight happening and since Danny wasn't in class, his classmates started getting suspicious.

News spread fast and by the end of the day, everybody knew Danny wasn't present during class while the ghost fight was going on, which caused many theories to spike up. His friends continued to inform people that it wasn't possible that Danny and Phantom were the same person but only managed to convince a small amount, including Valerie. She seemed in denial that Phantom was a half-ghost so she didn't believe that Danny could be the person she was fighting along. Sure Valerie was intelligent, but whenever she was convinced in something, there was no changing her mind.

The rest seemed to be on the lookout and didn't buy the coincidence. Danny started believing that maybe Shadow was somehow behind his crud luck but later pushed that thought away since he knew Shadow probably had better stuff to do than causing him misery.

For the next days of school, people seemed to treat him rather nicely. Although he continued to tell them he wasn't a ghost, a few believed him while the rest laughed it off and others even found it amusing. Nevertheless, the attention wasn't too much but he was still favoured among his classmates and was even invited to join people's group. Even Dash seemed to not bully him anymore however was still debating whether his idol was a full ghost or half of the kid he used to bully. Danny didn't blame him however and was glad that Dash and his group were ignoring him.

As for the girls of Casper High, they seemed a bit _ too _ interested in him, some giggling at his jokes during class while others asking if he wanted to go out with them, even the school's lead cheerleader, Paulina. Sam, however, helped him get rid of them and Tucker even tried hitting on them but failed. Though, there were a few who did surprisingly accept.

Other than that, school seemed to go normally and Danny was glad the teachers weren't aware of the rumours going around. They continued to scold him and give him detention slips but Danny paid no mind to them. As long as only some of his classmates knew and they treated him normally, he wouldn't mind. Still, Danny and his friends continued to spread the word across the school, but there was still someone standing in their way, Wes.

But in the end, Danny didn't care and chose to continue doing his normal stuff in school. After all, his secret may one day be revealed and that way, his classmates wouldn't be too shocked when they find out...

* * *

**A/N: Okay, that's the end! I hope you enjoyed! ::)**

**Word Count: 5 388**


	7. Extra: Vlad's Plan (P3)

**A/N: Okay, so I know a couple of you have asked me to write another ending to this story regarding Vlad's P.O.V and his aftermath. After some thinking, I agreed to make a short part! It's the least I can do, because of my slow updates. I enjoy reading your comments and hearing feedback from you guys! I want all of you to know that I appreciate your votes and comments on my book, but what would really make me happy is if you're happy with the quality of the chapters. I know I'm not that great, but it's something I enjoy and when readers like you enjoy my writing, that makes me even happier! **

**Anyway, I hope you enjoy this very short chapter. I know it's poorly written, but I'm trying to get better. And with you guys encouraging me, I'm gaining more confidence:D ****Oh, and before I forget, there's another author's note at the end of this chapter. Make sure you read through it, that is if you're interested in another new fanfic including Danny and Vlad ;)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom, I simply only own the plots.**

* * *

Vlad was having a good week. After the whole news fiasco that he got interviewed in with Danny's identity, he was coming up with more wicked plans. He had a bunch of ideas tucked up his sleeve, ready to be released. And although the rich man did have other important events to attend to, he never wasted the chance to steal a ghostly artifact, even if it cost his afterlife.

At the current moment, the well-dressed man was sitting on his favourite antique chair, stroking his precious cat while playing chess. Alone. But of course, Vlad didn't care. After all, he had money, fortune and fame, what else was there to live? Well, except for the Packer's team that seemed he couldn't buy and the love of his life who was currently with the man who caused his demise.

He pushed the envious thoughts away, forcing himself not to barge into Jack Fenton's house right now in his ghost form, even if he lived close by since he was elected mayor. Instead, he picked up his cat and pushed the strategic game away, deciding to watch something instead.

At first, he was gonna do some stalking on people's unfortunate lives and then, watch celebrities dealing with a crisis, but as he flipped through the channels, he paused on something that immediately caught his eye.

His right thumb was still hovering over the remote control, one press away from turning the channel. However, the news managed to take away all his focus. The man shockingly scanned the news channel, the bold black letters written underneath with a news reporter explaining what was currently happening.

**"Invisobill reveals himself?! No other than fourteen-year-old teenage boy Danny Fenton! Or is it Danny ****_Phantom?_** **"**

Vlad couldn't believe his eyes. So this was it? He didn't need a plan anymore? Did the boy just reveal himself like that? Knowing Danny, he wasn't the type to give up easily, especially after he refused to join him for the hundredth time. So the final question was, did Danny think that revealing his identity was the smart choice?

Vlad got his answer when he watched the news intently, looking at the process of Danny revealing himself. It looked like the boy was struggling to keep himself full ghost by how terrified his face looked. He was running, trying to get away from the crowd as soon as possible but was quite impossible by the cameras recording the whole thing and fans following him. Vlad should know when it comes to being famous and tracked all the time. Luckily, the boy still had a human half where he wasn't paid attention to but not anymore.

He watched the transformation slowly start with his shoes, then his clothes and finally his hair, leaving the eyes flickering from green to blue. Vlad didn't understand how he was transforming against his will, especially since the young halfa seemed to have his ghost powers for about a year. The crew must've not recorded the beginning part but whatever it was, he was sure it wasn't an intentional transformation. The expression the boy was wearing was enough proof. And it wasn't a pretty one.

After remaining shocked for a whole minute, an evil grin curved by the edge of the man's lips, and with the flashing light illuminating from the television and dark background, one could say he looked like a real villain. As a touch, the white cat was sitting on his lap, completing the typical villain stereotype.

Vlad continued to stare at the screen widely, the grin not disappearing. He was absolutely ecstatic. This was definitely _not _ part of the plan, totally unexpected, but he was glad it went that way. Saved him the trouble from the boy hating him even more. He didn't even have to get out of his chair to complete the mission. He can now finally put himself at ease, one problem was already taken care of.

_ Daniel just did my job for me, _ ** how considerate**, the man snickered to himself before getting up and closing the television. That was certainly enough screen time for today. He could now go back to the chess game he was focused on a couple of minutes ago.

But all focus that he had for the game had vanished by the time he sat down, placing the cat on the other side. He was mainly focused on his next plans which were about to happen in a few days or so. He wasn't expecting things to go so smoothly and quick. After the whole incident where Danny refused to accept the invitation and face the consequences, he was certain that things were going to be way more difficult than he had planned. But it turned out to be the exact opposite.

His plan had to work now, it only seemed reasonable. Now that Danny's whole identity had been revealed, his parents must've rejected him by now. He could now be lurking in the streets for all he knew! That thought urged him to go searching for the younger halfa but he resisted himself, knowing the boy would come out sooner or later anyway. His sister might be with him right now too since she, unfortunately, returned earlier from her trip.

Not only that, but he must also have the GIW hot on his trail right now. He must also be regretting his decision of not coming here sooner. His parents could be hunting him now too! And his fans could also be bombarding him right now too! Vlad knew for sure the boy was miserable.

"It's only a matter of time, Daniel, before you come running here to me like the pawn you are," he mumbled to himself as he moved his bishop in a diagonal direction, knocking out a white pawn.

"And when you do," he continued, before grinning and using his queen to block the other path of the recipient. "That would be **checkmate **for you."

Two weeks have passed by and Vlad had yet to receive news about the younger halfa. For the first couple of days, Vlad didn't put much thought into it. Danny must be overthinking about the possible choice and didn't want to face his arch-enemy yet. And Vlad was fine with that. He didn't care as long as he showed up at the end.

However, his thoughts were soon crushed after a week with no call or a sign of arrival. He was expecting the boy to show up earlier, he even prepared things in advance and was in a happier mood than usual. He didn't know what was taking Danny for so long. Did he still require more thinking? Or was he just stubborn?

Vlad waited and waited, hoping to receive some sort of acceptance of him coming. But unfortunately for Vlad, the boy never showed up. He was even starting to have doubts. Did something happen to change his plans? Were his friends involved in this again? Or perhaps his sister? She seemed to have a big role in his life.

When two weeks rolled by, Vlad was done. That was a lot of time to think and something must've happened to prevent Danny from coming, _ whatever _it was. But he would make sure to have him here, and later, his mom. After all, the boy must've lost hope already and it would be the perfect time to make another jab.

He first decided to send his vultures to investigate the current situation in the Fenton's home. Although he was sure those useless cultures will also fail at this job too, he didn't have a choice. He was very busy these days with his business work since he was a mayor, and he didn't seem to have much time to do anything. But of course, he could always send duplicates of himself, but that still required lots of energy and he already had used some of his energy to fly to the ghost zone and collect another ghost antique. The journey wasn't pleasant, by the way.

The point is, he wasn't going to visit him just yet, he wanted to hear what was happening first. And surely after a couple of days, the vultures came back.

"Took you long enough," Vlad grumbled, pushing himself out of his chair and crossing his arms.

"It's not our fault. That Fancy-pants ghost boy made it harder for us to vatch him. Vhat a nuisance!" The leader of the group with a hooked beak commented.

"Whatever just tell me what was going on," Vlad replied, ignoring the vulture's comment and eager to hear the news.

"Vell, it looks like he seems just fine. I mean, he looked very happy to be here and his parents vere spending more time with him than the last time ve visited him," the second vulture with the black glasses explained.

"And he seemed to have a whole bunch of fans crowding his house," the last vulture with the grey eyebrows added.

"And?" Vlad asked, wanting to know specifically how his parents were acting 'different'. Did they believe the news or thought it was just a hoax? And if they knew, did they accept him?

"That's it," the second vulture said.

"That's it?! I send you to watch the boy and gather information about him for a few days and **this** is what you bring me?" Vlad exclaimed, his eyes flickering red. What a bunch of useless brats!

"Oh, ve almost forgot!" The leader said, cowering a little. "Ve followed him to his school and his classmates vere acting very strange to him, very nice."

"And I need to know this, why?" Vlad asked, raising an eyebrow angrily, his eyes remaining the same.

"Because you told us to tell you everything about him?" The third vulture replied timidly as Vlad groaned in frustration. Maybe he should've been more specific.

"You _useless _birds! I tell you to kill the fat oaf a couple of months before and you fail. I literally have him in my house and you let an _inexperienced _boy beat you down! I tell you to watch that same teenage boy and all you get me is some _useless _information. What can you do?" The angry man pointed out.

"Ve're not useless! You should've been more specific," the leader said.

"And ve're not birds! Ve are ecto-Americans-"

"Whatever! You know what, get out of here before I do something you'll regret!" Vlad warned, his eyes now remaining a permanent bloody red. The three vultures quickly scattered away and left through the open window, not wanting to be faced with the angry man's wrath.

_ Useless incompetent birds! _ Now he felt even more curious and determined to go there and see for himself. Not only that, but understand every bit of what was happening. Maybe even talk to the boy and have him spit something out.

No, that would cause even more trouble. The boy was stubborn and if he found out he was still willing to have him as an apprentice, he'll leave instantly without getting a word or two. And he would start to be more cautious around the house knowing he was most likely being spied on.

Of course, he can always send his 'Plasmius Bug' and have it do the job for him. But he would only get to see what was happening. By the end, he'll just have a bunch of unanswered questions. The man wanted to see for himself what was happening and the conversations going on in the household. He also wanted to understand how his parents reacted, if the GIW were still hunting him and how everybody else felt in the situation. All he knew was that he had fans and his friends _but _that didn't mean everyone else had accepted him.

He decided on going on a normal weekday so it seems less suspicious and more normal. That way, he can see the daily routine. Sure he knew about the boy's ghost half and how he sucked at math, but that was because he cloned him a couple of weeks back. And that was basically it. He knew _nothing _about the boy's interests, dislikes, hobbies or stuff he did daily. If he wanted the boy to at least talk to him, he was going to have to know some information first.

So on an early Monday morning, he did some important mayor business before making a duplicate and leaving it there while his original self prepared to give the Fenton's a visit. The good thing was that he no longer lived in Wisconsin and he was much closer to them now so he didn't need to teleport.

Vlad was looking forward to this.

The next day wasn't as good as Vlad expected. He had finally found out what actually happened. And it wasn't nice.

The first thing Vlad did was pay the Fenton's a visit. He was originally gonna visit them as Vlad Masters, billionaire, and mayor, but decided against it. It was better they didn't know about it and let him work his way. Maybe at the end of his investigation, he might consider it.

So he watched them have breakfast and it seemed what the vultures had said was right. His family was spending even more time together which was a shocker since Jack and Maddie always spent most of their time in the lab, inventing new ghost weapons.

He watched them laugh together and have conversations as he willed himself not to barge in right there and destroy the man responsible for his misery. He continued to listen, since his hearing sense was strong, hoping to hear something involving the recent news.

Fortunately, he realized that the Fentons did believe that Danny was a ghost and was totally fine by it. Like, he had no problem transforming right in front of them and they kissed him goodbye while ushering him outside so he wouldn't be late. His sister obviously knew but her reaction was the same and they looked like a happy, perfect family. That annoying, but true, fact made him swell with anger and he forced himself to continue watching.

After the two teenagers were gone, he stayed a bit more, checking to see that maybe the parents were just acting and they were planning on exterminating Danny. But unfortunately for him, they had no crazy intentions and actually seemed fond and proud of their ghost boy son. Even Jack, who was a crazy ghost hunter, was happy even though his son was a ghost. Probably because he knew his son is a ghost hunter too.

He couldn't watch anymore and decided to see how school went for the boy. After all, he had already gained the information he needed about his parents and the plan seemed to go downhill from there.

School seemed to go great with Danny. He looked to be the popular one even though he didn't leave his friends by joining the A-listers, and everybody was acting so nice to him. Vlad rolled his eyes at the scene. _ Can they be any more obnoxious? _

Overall, the younger halfa had no problem with school. In fact, the reveal seemed to have granted him a better social life, even the teachers. Instead of giving him detention slips and lecturing him about responsibility, they were very lenient and even let him be excused out of class for half the time. Well, except for the English teacher but he seemed to be the one who didn't do well for excuses.

At this point, Vlad had seen enough and if he were in his human form, his eyes would be flickering dangerously red. He couldn't believe what was happening! Instead of the boy having the worst life, he was enjoying every second of it! He seemed so _happy _ ! That was **not** part of the plan. What was supposed to happen would be his parents and the whole world rejecting him, and then the GIW hunting him down while he staggered to his mansion!

The furious man continued to watch until school ended, and he watched when the fans and news reporters quickly rushed after Danny as he left the school doors. Even some of his classmates were following him, hoping they could be seen with the ghost celebrity.

Vlad tried to contain himself from blasting the smirk the boy was currently wearing as he signed autographs and posed for the pictures. Where were the GIW anyway? They were nowhere to be seen! What was taking them so long? Weren't they supposed to hunt the boy down, like, weeks ago?

Vlad flicked open his phone and dialled their number. After a couple of seconds, a voice answered.

"Hello?"

"Hello, yes. The ghost boy seems to be located near Casper High-school right now. What's taking you guys so long?" Vlad immediately asked.

"I'm sorry, I don't get what you're trying to say. If I may ask, who is speaking?"

"This is the mayor, Vlad masters. I assume you have heard of me?" The man replied dryly, annoyed with how slow the person on the other line acted. There was a sound of shuffling before a different person replied.

"M-mayor Masters! I'm _terribly _sorry, the person you were talking to is new here and isn't used to this stuff. Please excuse me, but how may I help you?"

"Enough chit-chat, I just need to know why your team isn't on the ghost boy right now? I assume you already know his identity and it won't be hard target him, am I right? After all, you guys seem to have the right equipment and that's why I'm funding you guys in the first place," Vlad explained.

"Um, well you see Mayor Masters, we're not actually 'hunting' the ghost boy anymore. After all, he's a celebrity and is doing g-good for the community," the agent stuttered. However, Vlad didn't seem to buy the act.

"You don't expect me to believe that, do you? Now tell me, what is the real reason?" The man asked again, more determined.

"We can't tell you that. We're authorized by our manager to not reveal _any _secrets involving our company," the man replied after a moment of silence.

"Do you know who you're talking to? **Mayor Masters**. I can fire _all _of you if I wanted to and I don't need to get up from my chair to do so. So, tell your manager that if he wants to keep his business running, you spit it right now. I'm getting annoyed right now, and when I do, I can do some pretty hectic things," the man ranted angrily and after he heard a sigh, he knew that it did its work.

"If you need to know...the thing is, that ghost is popular and loved not only here, but around the world. As soon as the world hears we laid a finger on him, we're doomed. Plus, he's not just a _ ghost_, but a fourteen-year-old human _kid_. That technically counts as child abuse and we can get badly charged. Our group is not taking any chances," the agent explained.

"Hmm, what if I pay you to...y'know.. scare him off or something? Warn him he's in danger? Like, maybe deliver a few shots but not kill him?" The man compromised after thinking for a minute.

"I'm sorry Mayor Masters, but as I said before, we _cannot _harm a kid, especially one that's not doing any harm. Everybody would go nuts. Trust us, if we suspect him of doing something villainous, we would not waste any time to terminate him. Plus, even if we managed to kidnap him without people knowing, we already have a sort of deal with the Fenton's."

"What is this 'deal' you speak of?"Vlad asked, now curious.

"Mister Masters, we can't say-"

"Oh for heaven's sake, can't you listen for once? What. is. the. deal?"

"Well, if you insist. The deal was that wey actually kind of work _with _the Fenton's, parents of the ghost boy. After all, they're ghosthunters. And in return, we get to use some of their inventions and hunt other ghosts without our business falling," the agent briefly explained.

"I don't care!" The man yelled out, not even caring what he was saying at the moment.

_ "But you said-" _

"**Forget **what I said! I want you to get rid of that **nuisance** and show him he's not welcome here or anywhere! Threaten him and his family, try to change the minds of the citizens, or I don't know something! You know ghosts can't be trusted," The man rambled, not flinching once by the irony of the sentence.

"I'm sorry Mayor Masters, but we can't do that. If you want, you can hire some other people for that job but we don't involve ourselves in it," the man suggested but that wasn't enough.

"Y'know? I can fire all of you at this very moment," the man snarled, his eyes glowing bright red. He was sure he could manage to convince them! Turns out he was wrong, _ again_.

"You can do that. Or you can risk being hated as a mayor by literally everyone in the world. We record our calls, Mayor Masters. We won't do that though since we already have a backup if you do decide to fire us," the agent simply said. That was the last straw.

"YOU'RE FIRED. ALL OF YOU. YOU'RE ALL FIRED!" The man growled, ending the call in the process before disintegrating it to dust with his red ectoplasm.

Stupid agents. Even they seemed mesmerized by the boy! What did he have to do to get people to listen to him? _ One _teenage boy could make the whole world believe him and his well-thought plan, a man with twenty years of experience, fell right into it!

The man growled once more before deciding to head back to his mansion back at Wisconsin. He didn't want to see _anybody _in Amity, especially the Fenton Family. If he did, he won't be able to stop himself from blasting them off the planet.

_ Another plan backfired, _ the man mumbled to himself as he lifted his cape and teleported, leaving a dust of pink swirls behind.

Meanwhile, the younger halfa smirked, seeing the older halfa disappeared.

"What was that for man? You seemed to enjoy having your fans today," Tucker said to Danny, lifting himself from his PDA and grinning. His friend had been acting really weird today, especially after school.

"I was trying to get a reaction out of a certain someone," the boy grinned back as his goth friend raised an eyebrow.

"It was Vlad, wasn't it?" Sam asked, knowing the look well.

"Yeah? How'd you know?" Danny replied surprised.

"You have that look whenever you enjoy getting Vlad mad. It's a very popular one actually," the female friend replied, shrugging.

"What's he doing here anyway? I thought he'll be sulking with his cat right now," Tucker commented which earned a chuckle by the two.

"Actually, he might be doing it right now in his house. He seemed really pissed today," Danny stated.

"Ah. How did you spot him anyway?" Sam asked curiously.

"Easy. By the second period, he was radiating anger everywhere. It was pretty hard to focus in class but I couldn't help but smirk. He must've realized by now his plan had failed once again," the half-ghost explained as the trio continued to walk home.

"So that's why you seemed in a fun mood today," Tucker said in realization as they chuckled.

"Yeah. Something tells me we wouldn't be seeing him for a long time," Sam said as the other two nodded and stared at the view, smiling.

Back at the mansion, the rich man was fuming with anger. He held his cat, stroking it furiously on his favourite chair, going back to scheming.

_ Oh, Daniel, you haven't seen the last of me._

* * *

**A/N: And that's it! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Now, I'm thinking of creating a new fanfic book. This one will not be a oneshot, but it will be a short book, like maybe ten chapters or so. I've done some research (something I wouldn't do when it comes to school) and have decided to make a book where it turns out Vlad is actually Danny's biological father. Now, this is a book where 'Phantom Planet' never happened and both halfa's don't know until Danny's parents tell him. Each chapter will give some evidence during monologues and there'll be lots of drama and angst! I'll also make sure to alternate conversations between Danny, Jazz, Sam, Tucker, Vlad and his parents. I may start it soon and I'll tell you when I upload it!**

**Word Count: 4 471**


	8. Chapter Five: Half A Reveal

**A/N: Hey everybody! So I'm currently working on the other fanfiction book and when it's ready, I'll make sure to inform you guys! Other than that, happy reading! By the way, I'm sorry for the very late update, History is a horrible subject and I'll leave it at that lmao. One final exam (and project) to go and I'll be free starting August!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom, I simply only own the plots.**

* * *

"And so for our next exam, all you'll have to do is read a passage out of our Shakespeare lesson unit and answer some questions related to it..." Mr. Lancer carefully explained, going up to the chalkboard and writing some important stuff down for the students to write in their notebooks.

It was almost exam week, the one taking place after winter break and Danny wasn't doing so bad, but not great either. He still had to fight the occasional ghosts whilst doing homework and coming up with excuses to his parents and teachers. They thought he lived a second life, which wasn't entirely false. It was more like 'Afterlife'.

Skulker still hasn't stopped hunting him down, seeing that he was still a 'worthy prey'. His parents never wasted the chance to hunt him down either, the latest using another failed invention. Danny didn't know whether to be relieved or upset; though that didn't mean he didn't use their inventions differently to hunt ghosts.

Danny gave a sigh and thumped his head on the desk. It reminded him of one of the vines he watched yesterday but that didn't make him feel any better. Instead, he decided to catch up on the sleep he missed last night. Apparently, Skulker didn't have a bedtime. Did his parents ever teach him that sleep was important? Oh wait, did he even have parents?

While Danny tried to sleep using the swarming thoughts in his head, ignoring the fact that he was supposed to take notes for his upcoming class, he felt a sudden sting to the right of his neck. He touched his neck in reaction, rubbing the pain. Before he can come to the conclusion that maybe Vlad's vampire effect was responsible, he heard snickering a few desks behind him.

He turned to face Dash who was at his right, two seats behind him, grinning like a psycho killer in one of those old horror movies. What was it called again? it was called 'The Shining', right? He rolled his eyes at the childish act but said nothing nevertheless, not wanting to cause more problems than he could handle. Obsessive ghosts were enough. Instead, he stayed put and tried to focus on what Mr. Lancer was talking about.

Danny felt another tick at the same time and slapped his neck again, rubbing the same spot. When he pulled away, he found there was another beige rubber band. He turned behind his seat again to face Dash high fiving his friend Kwan at which he glared at. Those two seriously never wasted the chance to annoy him. Weren't they supposed to take notes?

The two jocks paid no attention to Danny's angry glowing eyes and instead continued to snicker. Danny saw no use in trying to stop them, so instead, he groaned and let his head rest on the desk again. He really couldn't wait till winter break. Of course summer vacation was way better, but it was currently winter which meant they weren't that close yet.

Five minutes haven't passed yet when he heard an interrupting voice. So much for catching on sleep.

"Mr. Fenton. I would really appreciate it if you didn't sleep in my class, especially if I'm giving the class some important notes to write," the voice stated in front of Danny's desk as the boy quickly lifted his head up. He sat frozen for a bit before blinking and seeming more alert, he turned to face an angry-looking teacher.

"I uh-I had a headache?" Danny replied back, not paying attention to his snickering classmates. _Smooth Fenton._

"Yes, I can see. Now please open your binder and write the notes I wrote down on the board. That is, unless you can't see either?" Mr. Lancer said, raising an eyebrow as Danny blushed in embarrassment and shook his head, not wanting to meet the eyes of his classmates. He can't believe what he was doing. He fights ghosts on a daily basis and has no trouble beating them up with his sarcastic wit, but when a teacher humiliates him in front of his classmates, he can't do anything?

He raised his head up, his face going back to a neutral expression, facing the teacher.

"No, I can see, I'll just write them down," Danny replied, pushing the eraser marks away on the desk and opening a brand new page in his notebook. Mr. Lancer nodded in satisfaction before going up to the board and continuing on with his lesson. Danny just sighed and wrote down the notes. It'll be better if he wrote something down, especially since both Sam and Tucker aren't in his class and they aren't there to lend them missed notes. He can just sleep during lunch.

* * *

"You know, it wouldn't hurt to pay attention to us once for a while," Sam said dryly, cutting the ghost boy away from his thoughts.

"Oh... sorry. I'm just a little... _spacey_ today," Danny explained as Tucker grinned.

"Was that an intended pun?" he asked, amused, knowing his half-ghost friend was a fan of space and wanted to be an astronaut. Danny replied with a weak smirk but said nothing, shaking his head 'no'.

"Well, whatever's bothering you, tell us if you need anything. We wouldn't want you overworking yourself, especially since school just ended," Sam sternly said and Danny nodded.

"Yeah, you looked like the living dead today. Although that isn't technically false," Tucker commented jokingly as Sam rolled her eyes.

"One more bad joke and I'll have Dash stuff you into a locker," she warned seriously, as he held up his hands in surrender, knowing the goth wasn't joking.

"Damn, chill. What's wrong with both of you today?" Tucker said annoyingly as the two friends only sighed and continued to make their way down the school hallways.

"We're already chill, Tuck. It's winter, remember?" Danny said with a small grin as Sam shot him a warning glance.

_"That goes for you too."_

"Fine, fine. No more puns or jokes, _happy?_"

**"Yes."**

Danny pushed the heavy school doors open, eager to get out of the stuffed place but signaled to his two friends to exit first.

"What a gentleman," Sam snickered quietly as Danny frowned a bit but said nothing.

The rest of the walk home was quiet, but calm. The snowflakes were gently making their way slowly to the ground, occasionally landing on the trio's clothes and exposed blushed faces. The weather was also getting quite chilly and there were already kids building snowman outside their homes, showing the Christmas spirit. Danny looked up at the sky in deep thought, the icy weather not really bothering him as he was used to his ghostly ice powers by now.

Every once in a while, a person in the trio would comment something interesting about their day, whether it was a big rumor or some annoying teacher. The others would then reply back with something similar, letting themselves get carried on with the conversation. And although the mention of ghosts was mentioned, it didn't stick to the conversation and wasn't something of greater interest. After all, they wanted to feel like normal teenagers for a bit, at least for a day.

"So you guys ready for the exams?" Sam asked, taking out her fluffy black mittens from the pocket of her jacket to protect her freezing hands. Considering it was almost the end of December, everybody was most likely wearing winter gear and having hot chocolate by the fireplace.

"Not really, though you might've suspected that by now," Danny replied casually. "But we have the entire break to study for exams so it shouldn't be a problem."

Tucker snorted at Danny's response in which he raised his eyebrows at. "Yeah, like you'll actually do something work related during break. Which reminds me, I'm getting the new Doomed 3 early for Christmas this year, probably tomorrow. Wanna come over and play? It doesn't work on computer so you can't access your dad's lab for it."

"Okay, first of all, I'll actually be productive this year," Danny replied back as Sam snorted, adding a '_that's-what-they-all-say_' comment. She chuckled but instantly stopped when she saw the glowing green eyes directed at her.

"As I was saying, most ghosts won't be here a lot during the winter break because it's the holidays and they're probably making a New Year's Resolution of what they want to achieve this year aka exterminate the 'ghost boy'. Plus, there's a truce going on in the ghost zone and I might actually go to the party hosted there if my parents are busy with the whole Santa argument they seem to have every year," Danny added as his two friends shook their head in amusement.

"I don't know man, you don't sound genuine to studying, especially in the break even when ghosts won't be pestering you," Tucker smirked as Sam nodded, shuffling snow between her thick black combat boots.

"Yeah, I agree. Tucker, you're a bad influence, maybe _I_ should be the one keeping an eye on Danny to make sure he has at least _some _notes memorized," she said.

"I would love to continue this conversation on who's the most responsible parent here, but in case you guys forgot, winter break just started," Danny stated dryly.

"Technically, winter break hasn't started yet-"

"And that means no more pencils, no more books and especially, no more ghosts to suck into the Fenton thermos. I'd very much like it if I didn't get ripped out molecule by molecule during the break with my parents," Danny continued, unbuttoning his red and white jacket.

"Yeah yeah, keep telling yourself that. You said that last year during our summer vacation and look where that got us," Tucker replied, raising a brow.

"I'll make sure that doesn't happen again," he said back, taking off his hat and stuffing it into one of the empty pockets of his jacket.

"Hey, aren't you feeling cold right now? It's literally under -20 degrees outside!" Sam exclaimed.

"No, not really. I guess I got used to it by now," Danny shrugged casually.

"Like, at all? I mean we get you're a half ghost with ice powers and all, but it's quite cold today, colder than the other winter days actually," Tucker stated, shivering slightly when a gentle snowy breeze hit his face.

"Nah, I get to control anything under 0 degrees that's considered cold in my body by pushing it out. Frostbite taught me many things, one of them being how to control even cold atmospheres. That doesn't mean I can control weather though," Danny explained, letting his hands form an icicle before crushing it, breaking the thick piece of ice like it was plastic.

"Well, can you make us 'un-cold'? We're literally on the verge of turning into ice," Tucker asked, holding onto his shaking arms tightly.

"I'm not a weather boy," Danny said rolling his eyes as he held one hand up to prevent Tucker from reciting a vine reference. "But... I can try to absorb the low temperature surrounding the inside and outside of your body, I think."

The two friends nodded as they stopped walking and let Danny hold onto both of their shoulders. He closed his eyes, searching for the raw energy in their bodies. When he finally managed to locate it, he gently let himself absorb it, so that they don't feel a sudden drain of energy being taken away. He let the cold air run into his body system and when he finally finished, he opened his eyes and let go of both their shoulders.

"So... How do you guys feel?" he asked hesitantly, hoping it didn't cause any damage to them.

"Well, aside from that weird feeling of someone dragging out my soul and not feeling any cold temperature the whole time until you let go, I'm back to feeling frosty," Sam stated as Danny turned to face his other friend, noticing Tucker was nodding in agreement as well.

"It was worth a try. I think I can only warm you guys up if I continue to take out the cold atmosphere surrounding you. I'll have to ask Frostbite how to do it without me having to touch you the whole time. For now, just hold onto me," Danny ordered as Sam looked at him worryingly.

"But doesn't that affect you? I mean, you are continuing to absorb the cold energy, and like, what if you get too much of it and get cold like the first time? Won't you be overwhelmed? Aren't there side-effects?" Sam asked nervously as Danny rolled his eyes and gave her a warm smile.

"No, don't worry. I got this. I can still control ice powers, remember? The worst that can happen is a minor headache or some squeamish feeling in the stomach, nothing more. Plus, it's only for a short time, now hold onto me," Danny assured her as the two friends complied hesitantly, taking his cold hands.

"But if you start feeling a bit lightheaded, tell us. We know how heroic you can be," Tucker joked though he was a bit nervous inside.

"Of course, I'll be fine," Danny waved it off, grinning. For the rest of the walk home, the techno-geek and goth could now talk properly without their lips quivering from the frosty breezes. A couple of minutes later, they were at Tucker's street. Just as they were about to drop off Tucker at his house, Danny felt a cold mist escape his mouth. He knew for sure it wasn't his mouth breathing out hot hair from the cold weather because he learned to control it months ago.

"Guys, ghost nearby," Danny told them as they both stopped whatever they were doing and nodded, unzipping their heavy backpacks to pull out a simple ghost weapon. Danny looked around, making sure no one was nearby and said his battle cry. He let the white circles wash over him, turning him into his alter half. He then unzipped his own backpack and took out the Fenton Thermos.

"_Help!_ There's a scary ghost chasing me! **What the f - **_Oh shit_, it's actually a ghost dog, _help!_"

Danny whipped his head to where the sound was coming from before taking a stance and flying over to the designated spot. He already knew who this 'ghost dog' was, and he didn't seem to mind the sudden intrusion this time.

"Cujo! Here buddy!" Danny exclaimed as soon as he noticed the green tail wagging near the traffic light. The huge green dog stopped what he was going to do and looked over at Danny for a second, tilting his head to the side before realizing who it was. The ghost dog jumped up and down, the ground shaking slightly.

"No, no! Cujo sit," Danny commanded as the dog happily listened, shrinking to the size of a cute puppy. The man that was previously running away from the dog dropped a small ball out of fear and took this chance to run away. Danny looked at the ball on the ground before realizing it was the same one at Axion's lab.

"Is that what you were looking for?" Danny asked amused, picking up the light ball as the puppy yipped. Before Danny could comprehend what was happening, the dog jumped on the teenage ghost, licking him with invisible dog saliva. That reminded Danny to take a long bath after. The boy chuckled and suddenly heard a loud cough to the right. He looked over his shoulder and noticed his two best friends, staring at him with a look of amusement.

"Look at who's having all the fun," Tucker commented with a grin as Sam shook her head wearing the same look.

"I thought you were a hamster type of person?" Sam said with slight surprise before going over to the puppy. She tried picking Cujo up, though was feeling a bit hesitant from the last time the dog ran loose and got them almost killed.

"And I thought you were a cat person," Danny retorted back, getting the dog off of him so that he can clean himself. He handed over the dog to Sam, who was still hesitant, and went intangible to slide off all the dog saliva still hanging on him.

"He won't bite."

"I know he won't."

"Then why are you holding him up like he's contagious?"

"... Shut up please."

Danny chuckled amusingly, wiping off his fake tears before looking over at Tucker who was also grinning. Sam had a look of distrust directed at the dog, not even caring that her two friends were making fun of her.

"Okay, look. We can-"

Before Danny could continue what he was going to suggest, he heard a familiar voice that stopped him dead. (Pun not intended). He turned around and face his parents, looking at him with disgust.

"Ghost! Maddie, get the Fenton Foamer here, quickly!" Jack ordered, holding out a simple ghost weapon. The man looked at the ghost in disgust before aiming it at him and shooting it. Danny moved over just in time the green substance made its way and instead landed on a random civilian walking by the streets. The startled man was then thrown on the ground and glared daggers at the person responsible, trying to take off the substance. Jack frowned, shaking the weapon closer to his ear.

"Sorry for that!" Maddie yelled out at the captured man and turned to face Sam and Tucker. "You two, get out of here, it's dangerous. And where's Danny?"

"What? No! We-"

"Guys, get _out_. I can handle this," Danny hissed back at them, cutting Sam from whatever she was going to say.

"Dude, they are about to fry you like meat! You can't just expect us-"

"Tucker, I'm not a pig that'll be hunted down for bacon. Now get out before they start suspecting things," Danny demanded, gritting his teeth at his two friends, gesturing them to get out in case they get hurt. Sam and Tucker compiled but before they left, Sam gave him one nervous look.

_"Be careful."_

The half-ghost nodded and turned to see his mother handling the weapon that was supposed to cover him with green anti-ghost glue. He quickly dodged another quick shot coming at him. did they ever get bored with hunting the same ghost or was that a ghost hunter thing? Maybe he should watch the movie 'Ghostbusters' again.

"I still don't understand, why do you guys keep hunting me down? I was literally doing nothing but petting a dog! When are you going to get that, _I'm. Not. __**Evil!**_" Danny yelled out, annoyed as Maddie frowned, still looking for the desired gadget in their ghost vehicle.

"We don't trust ghosts like you, Spook! Now stop moving so that I can send you back to where you came from!" Jack said, running closer to the ghost and steadying his aim.

"Um, no? You see, I prefer to remain in one piece, thank you very much," Danny dryly said, firing a shot at the weapon his dad was holding. Sure he couldn't hurt them, but he had to make sure they wouldn't either. Jack was taken aback by the sudden interference and Danny grinned. He brushed off his hands on his jumpsuit and was about to comment a pun when he felt a sudden pain in his right cheek. Too bad it wasn't just Dash's silly elastic bands.

Danny was thrown at a nearby wall, coming in contact with the painful concrete street ground. He felt his head go blank before regaining consciousness and rubbing his temple, hissing in pain. If he didn't have quick healing abilities, he would've probably lost consciousness from the great impact.

"Ow," he muttered to himself, groaning when he felt pain in his right cheek. He moved his hand to touch the sore bruised spot before wincing, regretting his decision. Whatever that was, it felt like a whole old brick. He then started to feel a metallic liquid going through his teeth. He wiped his mouth and looked at his hand, noticing a deep shade of red. Blood. And some ectoplasm.

He felt like he was at the dentist all over again from the time they had to remove his cavities. Although this was much worse, his teeth felt immense pain, his cheeks were now numb and he could feel the taste of blood dripping at the edge of his lips. He wiped some of it away but noticed he was currently in a tight situation and could take care of it later.

He looked forward and noticed his parents come after him, his father holding the Fenton Foamer while his mother holding the Fenton Anti-Creep stick. He turned invisible, preferring not to deal with this right now. After all, it was cold, his body was sore and he could really use some hot chocolate right now.

As soon as the half-ghost disappeared, the two ghosthunters grumbled, placing their weapons in defeat.

"As much damage that creep stick has done, why didn't you just use the same weapon as me?" Jack asked, eyeing the regular bat his wife was holding.

"I couldn't find it, the vehicle is a mess! Jack, did you eat fudge in the backseat?" Maddie replied back dryly, dropping her bat and crossing her arms, eyebrows raised.

"Uh heh. Um, no?" he said nervously, scratching his raven hair as Maddie rolled her eyes.

Danny scolded himself for letting a normal bat cause this much damage to him. It wasn't even a ghost weapon! He shouldn't have let his guard down, especially since his mother was present. She did have good aim though and he's confused as to whether he should be angry or impressed.

He shook his head and sighed. His mind must be really off today. Sam and Tucker were right. He should probably take the winter break to rest and try to not involve himself with ghosts and school stuff. Who knows? Maybe this winter might be good after all...

Danny decided to just leave and return back home before they notice their son has yet to return back from school. With some energy left, he lifted himself off the ground and slowly descended over the buildings, looking over to where his home was located. Shouldn't be too hard to find, the last name logo was visible across town.

At the same time, Maddie noticed something strange soaked on her wooden bat. It wasn't too large, likely the size of her hand. The certain spot seemed to be covered in some sort of red liquid. If her suspicions were correct, that must be...

"Hey Jack? Was... was there blood on this the last time you used it?" she asked confused as her husband shook his head 'no'.

"No. Why are you asking?" Jack replied back, walking over to where the bat was sitting. He knelt down, inspecting it further and was about to touch it when his wife quickly pushed his hand back.

"Wait! Don't touch it! I- I just wanna see something..." she said, kneeling down at the same height, her masked eyes focusing on the spot. She slowly, and carefully, went to touch the liquid with the tip of her latex fingers. When she drew it back, it had formed on her finger.

"It's fresh..." she said hesitantly, shaking her head in confusion and surprise. Was that... from the ghost she had just hit? But how? No way, that was impossible!

She ran over to the spot where Danny had been thrown, the wall of a music store. She inspected the wall and noticed there was blood on there too, still fresh but not a lot. Looked like a painful, but not too serious hit. Her boots crunched on the snow and she looked down to notice that there was something there too. She peered down, the white snow making the substance visible and noticed there was a tooth! It was a second molar baby tooth! She didn't know whether to be shocked or scared.

"J-Jack. Ghosts don't have teeth, right?" Maddie stuttered as her husband looked at her with a bizarre expression, walking over to her. He was now downright confused by her weird questions.

"Of course not Mads! Ghosts aren't humans, and even if they were in the past, they'd probably have none-" Jack stopped talking as soon as he noticed the visible substance on the dirty snow along with the small tooth. He too, had a wide expression.

"W-wait, that's blood!" Jack exclaimed, backing away a bit as Maddie nodded a bit, still frozen.

"Do you know what that means?" she asked hesitantly as Jack nodded vigorously.

"Yes! We just abused a child! Child abuse! Oh my god, we're going to jail, I can't go to jail! There's still stuff I need to do-"

"No! Well, that's true, but not the main reason. Jack, that's blood. In case you didn't know, ghosts don't bleed blood, they have ectoplasm in their bodies. We were just dealing with a kid, maybe teenager. That's human, most likely with a family and attends a school," she said seriously.

"B-but, but.. How? I mean, he's a ghost! He has all the features of a ghost! He can fly, he has powers, turn invisible, all those! How is that even possible? I've never dealt with a ghost that can bleed blood!" he cried out.

"That's because he isn't fully ghost! A human! Well, at least I think so. I'm not 100% sure, we'll have to do some tests on this blood sample to conclude our theory," she explained, gesturing him to get the petri dish, scoopula and lab plastic bag.

"But even if it turns out to be real human blood, how are we certain that it's his?" he asked after bringing the desired items as Maddie took them and began inserting them on the plate and into the Ziploc bag.

"Because this," she said, holding up the bag. "Is also mixed with ectoplasm. We can examine the blood and see how it got merged into his body system in the first place."

"Plus, he saw me hit him with the bat, remember? And this is the place in which he landed. The layer of ectoplasm covering it is just the final proof," she added, getting up and walking over to the vehicle. Jack nodded, a grin forming.

"I don't know why but I'm really excited," he said as Maddie smiled at her husband.

"Me too. But I'm afraid of the answers we might get," she said sadly, sighing before getting into the passenger seat.

Some things are better left unsaid.

* * *

"And so that's basically it, the usual," Danny explained tiredly, as his sister, Jazz inspected his lips with a grim look on her face.

"Something tells me there's more to the story. What the hell happened to your lips, they're so bruised up as if you were chewing on them all day," she said worryingly, pushing her brother's chin up so she can take a better look. She frowned, noticing the blood was still fresh and went to open Danny's mouth but he wouldn't budge.

"Danny. Open up," she ordered as he shook his head in protest.

"I said, do _it_. Don't make me force you," she threatened, her eyes narrowing. Danny tried to scoot away but she kept a firm grip.

"Admit it, you're not escaping. So if you know what's good for you, you better let me take a look," she said with a smug look as Danny's face lit up and he returned the same expression. Before she can understand what was happening, the weight was lifted off her hand and Danny was nowhere to be seen. Jazz frowned, standing back up and looking around the room.

"Danny, I know you're here. Come out this instance!" she yelled but was left with silence. And a soft chuckle. That made Jazz's eyes roll in annoyance

"This is not funny! Seriously, just come back. You know this isn't fair!" she pouted, crossing her arms but still nothing. She sighed, seeing it was no use and left the room. When Danny was sure she had left he turned himself visible once again and dropped himself onto his desk chair.

Two minutes later, without warning, he felt something shove him to the bedroom wall. He looked down to see he was tied down with some type of goo, preventing him from escaping. He tried pulling it off using his ghost powers and even turning intangible but it didn't work. Whatever he did, had the same result.

"It's no use so you can stop struggling now," the voice of a girl said as Danny looked up and was met with his amused sister. What was with his family members pining him to walls with ghost weapons? Wasn't once enough for one day?

He glared at her, but said nothing, not wanting her to look at his bruised mouth. It was getting hard to prevent himself from talking more and more, and his sister noticed that too.

"Oh come on, it can't be that bad. I promise I'll let you out after you show me, deal?" she asked with hope but Danny shook his head, indicating a 'No'. She walked closer to him which caused him to squeeze his lips tighter.

"It must be pretty serious if you can't even add those sarcastic comments," she said, raising an eyebrow as he frowned and looked to the side.

"What? Not even gonna threaten me? That's new-"

"Will you please just shut up?! I'm tired of all this! I just wanted a normal break, what do I have to do to get one-"before Danny could continue on with his rant, his sister grabbed his face and used her other hand to keep him from closing his mouth. He then started choking which she after took out, but she had enough time to see what was wrong.

"Seriously? _This is_ what you have been hiding away from me? Why? I get it's pretty bruised and I'll have to patch you up but you've been through much worse-" She then took a look at his gum and teeth. "Oh. I guess it is pretty bad, what the hell were you doing?"

When she received no answer from her brother, she continued to rant about responsibility and how to take care of one's health. Danny just half-listened, not really buying the words in knowing he would forget it in anyway.

"-look okay. Whoever must've done this had pretty good aim? Ghost-X, right? No? Not Skulker? Well then, don't keep me waiting, _who_ did this to you?" she asked, bandaging his bruised up cheek as he tried to protest but gave up.

"Oh, erm. I, bumped into a wall?" he said, rubbing his shoulder out of nervousness.

"Well, duh. That had to be a part of it. But _who_ shoved you on the wall?" she asked, still adding rubbing alcohol to his injury as he hissed quietly but said nothing.

"So?" she asked, impatiently.

"...Mom..and dad, I guess," he mumbled as Jazz instantly froze.

**"WHAT?!"**

"_No! _I mean- Sam, Tucker and I were walking back from school and I thought there was a ghost attack somewhere so I transformed but it was just Cujo. Apparently, my parents saw me and they started to attack. My mind was kind of off today and so I wasn't expecting the Fenton bat to bruise my face," he quickly added as Jazz gaped at him in shock but then sighed and rubbed her head, closing her eyes.

"I don't know whether to worry or laugh right now. That bat isn't even anti-ghost, what were you busy thinking about? You know what, don't answer that. Anyway, come closer. I'm not done with you," she said as Danny rolled his eyes but complied. When Jazz saw her brother hiss again in pain, she stood up with a frown.

"Okay, that's it. I'm going to have a talk with our parents," she firmly said as Danny's eyes widened, he too getting up from his seat.

"W-wait! What're you going to tell them?" he asked quickly.

"What they should know. Danny, you can't let them keep on hurting you like that, especially since you're a kid. What are people going to think? This counts as child abuse, do you know that? Sooner or later, someone will notice and report mom and dad for abusing you, well, abusing the half of you. Plus, we can't let them continue to hurt you. How do you think they'll react when they realize they've been abusing their own son for a long time? We _need_ to tell them," she sternly said as Danny shook his head.

"No! Jazz, you can't tell them! Not yet, at least. I'll tell them when I'm ready, just don't... Please?" he softly said, giving her the baby eyes as she sighed looking away.

"Danny... I don't know, we can't keep lying to them forever," she replied back hesitantly.

"And we won't. Just- Just let me handle it, okay? I'll tell them someday, just not now. Maybe after they realize they got the wrong enemy," he pleaded as his sister sighed but nodded, telling him she won't do anything yet.

"Fine, but promise me you'll tell them soon. Okay?" she finally said as he nodded in relief.

"I promise. Now get out of my room," he said in a teasing manner as she crossed her arms.

"I'm not moving, I still need to fix those cuts-"

"Come on Jazz! I'm not a baby, I can do it myself. Honestly, I've been through much worse," he said rolling his eyes.

"And I shouldn't be hearing that. Also promise me you won't get hurt a lot anymore, especially during this break. You need a rest," she said, standing by the door.

"Yeah, yeah, I will. Now get out," he waved it off and she frowned at his response.

"You need to promise me-"

Before she can say another word, Danny shut off the door in front of her face and sat in front of it in case his sister decided to barge in again. When he heard muffling sounds of disbelieve and footsteps walking away, he sighed and got up, walking over to his laptop.

Not five minutes had passed when he heard loud knocks on the door. He mentally jumped, turning to face the door in confusion.

"Danny! Open up!" Jazz yelled out as Danny rolled his eyes.

"Go away, Jazz. I told you I'm fine-"

"_No!_ There's something I want to show you! Now get down to the kitchen," his sister said in a panicked voice as he raised an eyebrow at the voice but complied. When he was sure Jazz had left the hallway, he opened the door, peeking out to check if she was playing a prank on him or something. When he noticed no one was there, he opened the door further and stepped out, scratching his head in confusion.

_Why was she so worried? _

He walked downstairs, a little uneasy. He was still confused by his sister's expression. She usually acted more calmly in situations and was the one to always come up with solutions. What had her brain so messed up? Was she proven wrong again?

Danny entered the kitchen door and noticed his sister sitting on one of the kitchen chairs, her fingers tapping uneasily on the wooden table. She was staring at the television in worry and discomfort, glancing at the hallway ever so often. So when she noticed Danny leaning against the doorway, she quickly motioned him to take a seat beside her.

Before he can ask her what's wrong, he heard the home phone ring and when he realized Jazz wasn't going to pick it up, he decided to instead.

"Hello?"

"_Danny!_ Oh my god, it's you. Okay man, just listen carefully and don't panic," a familiar voice of a boy answered.

"Tucker? What's wrong? Wait, why didn't you just call me on my own phone instead?" he asked, concerned as to why his friend was worried.

"Oh, um, you weren't there so I thought maybe you didn't hear it. Anyway, I just want you to not panic when-"

"Jeez, Tucker. Why are you so nervous? Don't tell me you're going to the hospital again, I'm not coming with you this time," Danny said in a joking manner.

"Dude, this isn't _my_ problem. It's _yours_. I just want to let you know that everything's fine, we'll handle it," Tucker said, a bit calmer.

"What? Tucker, I don't understand what you're-"

"Danny! Come on, where are you?" his sister's voice rang from the other room as Danny rolled his eyes and put the phone up close, interrupting his friend from whatever he was going to say.

"Look Tuck, I gotta go. Jazz won't stop pestering me from whatever she wants to show me. We'll talk about this tomorrow at Sam's place for movie night, okay?" he said and hung up, closing the line. He had a very uneasy feeling, but didn't know how to explain it. It was winter break, why was he so stressed?

"Danny! Where are you?!" his sister frantically yelled as Danny rolled his eyes.

"Coming! I told you, I'm here. Just got a call from Tucker..." he rambled on, walking over to where his sister was solidly seated, taking the one next to her.

"So what do you want from me?" he asked curiously as she motioned to the working television. He turned to face the device and was at first confused when he saw both his parents gabbling on, their voices lit with excitement. Everybody looked really buoyant, the faces smiling at the camera. He was even more confused when he saw a picture of himself on the screen, specifically his ghost half.

What were his parents doing there? And why? Did it have something to do with ghosts? Of course it did, what type of question was that?

He gave his sister another confused look, asking her why it was important. His sister gave him an annoyed look in return and turned up the volume.

"... It seems that you've really outdone yourselves this time! This is rather shocking news, I'm guessing no one was expecting this during winter break, huh?" the female news reporter chuckled as the male reporter grinned in response.

"Yes. Sure we've had our suspicions, but Phantom being a half-ghost was a very small theory. We merely thought of him just being a good ghost that pitied humans," he replied back.

"I'm as shocked as you are. Phantom being half human is a surprise to me as well. And a kid in fact, according to the blood test we examined in the lab today," Maddie said, leaning back on the chair as Danny stared shocked at the T.V.

Okay, _what?!_

"Since he's still a kid, he must have a family, am I right? Perhaps he lives somewhere in Amity Park and even attends school," Jack also added as the news reporters nodded in agreement with the theory.

"I was thinking Casper High, being the only high school in Amity Park," Maddie explained knowingly, confident in her theory.

"Hmm, I suppose that's true. What were you two thinking of doing now? Taking blood samples of every student?" the black-haired female asked, intrigued.

"Well, we were going to narrow it down. So far, we only know that he's a teenage boy, and now we are figuring out his blood type. Then, we can just use that to test only the boys with similar blood type," Jack said, thinking out loud.

"I have a feeling this might be easy though. The boy's blood sample will be easy to spot with the ectoplasm merged with it," Maddie grinned.

"Wow, you guys got this all covered. May I ask, why are you so eager to find out Phantom's identity? I mean, I know some people might want to hang out with him personally or perhaps get to know the celebrity, but what's your reason? We are aware that you guys seemed to dislike the halfa?" the male reporter asked, an eyebrow raised in suspicion.

"Well, that's true. However, knowing he's one of us was a great shocker and we get to know why he does good for us. At first, me and husband were suspicious of him being evil and just tricking the townsfolk, but him being human shows that he was just protecting us since he's technically half of us, you know what I mean?" Maddie said sincerely, smiling.

"Exactly. We also want to give a formal apology to him. We've put him through a lot, especially since he's just a kid in school. His parents must be very concerned, probably not knowing his secret too," Jack exclaimed, flashing a toothy grin, mixed with a bit of sadness. There was a bit of regret in both of their voices.

"Well, that's certainly pleasant. I'm sure he feels better now knowing that even ghost hunters will stop hunting him. Do you have any suspicions on who it might be?" the same blonde male reporter asked.

"Honestly, no. Whoever he is, must be great at keeping secrets," Maddie said as Jazz snorted which earned a glare from Danny.

"I was reading from his fan page just recently, and some people imagined him as a very popular jock," Jack added absentmindedly. It was now Danny's turn to snort. Not even close.

"We think he'll have the same look; white-haired and green eyes. Maybe wear a black hoodie and jeans to school? He must be good at P.E too from his fighting techniques," Maddie explained as Jazz chuckled but Danny only rolled his eyes in annoyance. He was starting to think they might never figure out his identity.

"I have a feeling that might not be as easy as it sounds, am I correct?" the male reporter asked as Maddie nodded. "However, I wish you the best of luck. Who knows, you might be lucky and he's closer to you thank you think."

At this, Danny didn't stop himself from snorting. Oh, _much_ closer than they thought. The nervousness he was feeling before was starting to fade but not completely.

"Well, whoever he is, and if he's watching this right now, I look forward to meeting you," Maddie warmly smiled at the camera to which Danny smiled back, though he was still uneasy. Did they really mean what they said back there? It wasn't some scheme or joke, right? Only one wait to find out.

Danny spent the rest of the evening, waiting for his parents to come back. Every minute that passed, he felt his stomach squirm to which he responded with looking through ironic stuff on the internet. He couldn't believe the stuff that was said about him.

A blonde green-eyed jock that would paint his hair every time there was a ghost? Who came up with that stuff?

And why did people think that Wes Weston was him? Especially after he admitted that wasn't him time after time. He was even starting to think that maybe Wes hated him. That guy was crazy, no comment there.

And let's not forget the many fangirls he had stalking him every ghost fight. He didn't even know where they got these pictures from. He should probably start to pay attention to his surroundings, one of them may seem him transforming into his human half. Especially now since everybody knows he's only half ghost.

When his parents hadn't shown up yet, Danny decided to just go to sleep. He was tired, today was a very 'exciting' day and he wanted to catch up on the sleep he missed for months. Plus, it was cold, and his warm bed was seeming very comfortable and inviting right now.

"Why were you so worried? I thought you wanted them to find out my identity?" Danny asked jokingly to help him ease the nervousness. Jazz simply rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"Not like this. I wasn't worried about them finding out your identity, they haven't been able to find out even when you were living under the same roof. And even if they somehow did, I wouldn't be too frustrated. It's just that, you don't want them to find out, _correction_, **anyone** to find out, even me. I was just worried about your reaction, and I made you watch it with me so that I can calm you down, especially when you over exaggerate," Jazz explained as Danny glared at her.

"Hey! I'm sorry my parents might hunt me down if they figure out who I actually am," Danny argued defensively as Jazz shot him a grin.

"Good point, but I doubt they will. You heard what they said," she said, taking a bite of homemade pasta she made.

"And what if it's just an act? What if they're waiting for the right time to strike when Phantom reveals his identity?" Danny frowned, looking down on his plate.

"Well, I guess you'll just have to find out tomorrow," she said, picking up her own plate and placing it in the sink. Danny sighed, getting up and doing the same.

He decided to call it a night and take a shower before going to sleep. He let his mind wander, and forced himself to stay positive but it was hard to do so. He finally finished and brushed his teeth before sliding into a new pair of pink striped pajamas, slipping inside the covers. He fell asleep instantly, not realizing how tired he actually was.

* * *

"So how was it?" Sam asked, as the trio walked out of the theater after a horror movie. Although they felt better after the movie (except Tucker), their minds were still off.

"Pretty good. Where do you find these?" Danny asked, smirking in process. Tucker glared at Sam, crossing his arms in anger.

"That's the last time I ever hang out with you guys! I can't believe I'm even friends with you Sam," Tucker growled as Sam flashed a toothy grin.

"How was I supposed to know they would be putting on _that_ movie. It was a complete coincidence," she said innocently, putting her hands behind her back and walking farther away from them. The two boys quickly caught up beside her, not wanting to stay behind in the cold.

"You knew! You did it on purpose, didn't you?" Tucker snarled, not wanting to face his two friends.

"No, but I'm serious though. I actually didn't know they were going to do one about a haunted hospital, I swear. It was supposed to be a movie about a zombie apocalypse and deceased plants. They must have rescheduled it last minute or something," she said with a serious look.

"That doesn't sound any better though. Plants? Seriously Sam?" Danny said, grinning as Tucker snorted but refused to meet their gazes.

"Look Tucker, I'm actually sorry. I really didn't know they were going to put that movie on, and when I booked the tickets last minute in the line, I completely forgot about your paranoia," Sam apologized.

"That's not gonna stop me from having nightmares for a week," Tucker dryly said but finally gave up and nodded. "Next time, just warn me when you're about to watch something like that."

"I promise, now lets speed walk to my house, I'm freezing!" Sam stated, rubbing her arms in indication. The two boys nodded in agreement.

"I'm just asking, but why didn't you just leave and wait for us or something?" Danny asked confused.

"I didn't want to seem like a wimp leaving in the beginning of the movie," Tucker said annoyed as Danny chuckled but said nothing afterwards.

"Speaking of, how did you sleep yesterday Danny?" Sam asked concerned.

"Okay. I'm still worried about... you know," he said as his two friends nodded, knowing what he was talking about. The trio agreed to not talk about what happened when they were on their way to the theater. It would cause too much stress, and they wanted to avoid any kind of stress for the entire break.

"Did you talk to your parents about it yet?" Tucker asked as Sam sought out her keys and opened the door to her house. The two quickly got in, met with the warmth of the fireplace not far away.

"No, I'll talk to them after I get back home. They were pretty busy in the morning, I guess trying to figure out who Phantom is," Danny shrugged, taking off his red jacket and hanging it on one of the hooks.

"Aren't you like, worried?" Sam asked curiously, not buying the calm demeanor of her friend.

"Of course I am! I'm _really_ worried actually, although I'm pretty sure they won't figure out, _at least not yet,_" he exclaimed as Sam led the two boys downstairs to the game room where snacks were provided along with a big screen and red comfy chairs placed in front. Tucker was quick to pick the best spot, jumping on it.

"Ah, it never gets old," he quietly said to himself, letting the texture of the furniture soak him in. The two gave him unimpressed stares but ignored him otherwise.

"Well, you look really calm. I was expecting you to like, freak out or something," Sam explained, going over to the snacks table and filling a big bowl with popcorn.

"Trust me, I'm freaking out like crazy in the inside. One little poke and I'll crack," he said jokingly, poorly masking his nervousness.

"Well, maybe this can help?" she said grinning, handing him the bowl as he smiled thankfully grabbing a handful and popping it in his mouth.

"You didn't eat breakfast, didn't you?" Sam asked unimpressed as her ghost friend shook his head to which she sighed at.

"What? I told you, I was nervous. I can't eat properly when I'm at that state of mind," he argued defensively, throwing more popcorn into his mouth.

"Wait here, I'll go get you something that's actually healthy for lunch," she said, walking out the door.

"Hey! No wait, Sam. I'm not actually hungry-"

"_No._ You need to eat something, now stay there or else I'm kicking you out," she threatened from outside as Danny sighed in defeat, walking over to the seat beside Tucker. He plopped on it, about to turn the screen on when he heard his ringtone vibrating from his pocket. He flipped over his phone and noticed his mom's ID in the front.

"Hello?" he responded.

"Danny! Sweetie, we need to talk to you. Think you can stop by the house in ten minutes?" she asked, her voice sounding unusually calm.

"Um, sure. What do you want to talk to me about? If it's the pancakes on the wall, I'm sorry, I tried getting it off but it was-"

A chuckle interrupted him from the other line. He raised an eyebrow, confused. "No, not the pancakes, though you have to promise me you'll clean it up after. It has something to do with the ghost boy, I'll tell you there, okay?"

Before Danny could reply, she had already hung up. He muttered under his breath, holding his head out of frustration. Tucker noticed this and raised an eyebrow out of confusion and worry.

"Hey man, are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, I need to go. Mom needs to talk to me about something," he explained getting up, and walking back upstairs.

"That doesn't sound good," Tucker said, following after his friend. Sam gave the two a confused look to which Tucker responded. "His parents want to talk to him."

"Yeah, and it doesn't have anything to do with the pancakes," he grumbled as Sam chuckled but handed him a cheese sandwich.

"What?" she said. "You still need to eat."

Danny rolled his eyes but gave her a thankful smile and when to grab his coat. His two friends followed, doing the same.

"Hey, what're you guys doing? She only needs me?" he asked.

"Well, we can't let you go alone. What if something happens and we aren't unaware?" Tucker replied back.

"Are you guys gonna stand in here the whole time. Sure it's cold outside, but we have somewhere to go to," Sam said, opening the door as the cold air blew in. Both boys shivered but complied, putting on their winter equipment and walking out the door.

For the rest of the walk, nobody really said anything. They just wanted to get it over with to finally get rid of the uncomfortable feeling.

When they arrived at the doorsteps, Danny hesitantly knocked on the door since he forgot his keys.

_Of all days to forget the key, it had to be today,_ Danny thought to himself as he gave his two friends apologetic glances. They were freezing outside and the wind wasn't helping. They were surely taking their time.

"Danny!" his father's voice boomed, as Danny turned to face the door and was greeted by a tight hug. At first, Danny couldn't breathe but then confusion overwhelmed him and his friends.

"Uh, dad? Y-you're choking me," Danny tried to speak up as his father loosened his grip and set the confused boy on the ground.

"Why didn't you tell us?" he asked.

"Um, tell you what?" Danny asked, hoping it wasn't what he thought they knew.

"That your bestfriends with the ghost boy in school, duh!" his mother exclaimed from behind. Danny looked at his friends, asking them if he heard them right as they shrugged, also confused.

"Uh, what?" he asked, raising a brow in confusion as his mother smiled warmly at him.

"Don't worry, we know everything sweetie. It's okay if you don't want to tell us, that's what friends are for," she chuckled, messing with his hair as he stood their shocked. Before he can deny whatever they were talking about, Jazz came from behind with a nervous smile.

"Hey, mom and dad? Danny looks hungry, why don't you cook dinner while I explain to him everything?" Jazz quickly added as the two parents nodded, smiling at their two children and then looking at the visitors.

"Of course. And both of you are welcome to stay for lunch," Maddie said.

"Actually-" Sam was about to interject that they already ate when Tucker elbowed her.

"Actually Mrs. Fenton, we'd love to stay," Tucker added as Sam shot him a glare but said nothing. If Danny wasn't in shock, he would've chuckled at his friend's behavior. The two adults nodded happily and left, leaving the group still confused.

"Let's go up, and I'll explain everything," Jazz said with a serious look as the trio nodded, ushering upstairs to Danny's room.

* * *

"So, what you're trying to say is," Tucker continued, twirling in the chair. "That in order to stop them, you made this horrible excuse."

"Well, what was I supposed to say? I had to say something last minute before they can put two and two together. They were _this_ close to finding out Danny's identity, and if it weren't for me, they would've completed the final blood test and already showed the whole world. Then, it wouldn't have been long since people figured out who the mystery person is," Jazz explained, walking around the room, hands behind her back. "And as much as I want our parents to know his identity, I can't do it if Danny's not okay with it."

"And how is saying Danny is friends with the ghostboy and knows his identity, supposed to stop them?" Sam asked, raising an eyebrow as she rummaged through her spider backpack, looking for something to calm her nerves.

"Well, they would do everything for Danny," she said, turning to look at her brother who was lying on his bed, eyes closed. "Even if it may not seem like it, but they care for you a lot."

"Really?" he said, opening his eyes for a brief second and sitting up to face his sister.

"Yeah. I told him that your friend doesn't want anyone to know his identity and they accepted it. On one condition..." she said, as the trio looked over at Jazz, urging her to continue on.

"That they at least know who it is and get to meet him. They promised to not inform media and have even cancelled the meeting that was scheduled today evening," Jazz explained as Danny groaned, landing full down on the bed. _Of course_ there was a catch.

"And, the solution?" he asked hopeful but already knew the answer when he was met with total silence from his sister.

"Well, I guess we don't have a choice. I have to go, my parents called and they want me to come back home before the snowstorm," Sam said, rolling her eyes.

"There's a snowstorm? I gotta go too! Hey Danny, my place tomorrow?" Tucker asked, referring to the new video game as Danny nodded, walking over to the door and holding it open for them to exit. The two gave him encouraging looks before walking out.

"Tell me how it goes," Sam said as Danny nodded and closed the door behind him, leaning against it.

"Danny, I'm sorry. I tried to-"

"No, it's not your fault. If anything, I should be thanking you for stopping them from continuing their research and revealing it to the whole world," Danny sighed, burying his head in his hands.

"Well, look on the bright side. You have two less ghost hunters hunting you now," Jazz joked as Danny nodded, giving a half-hearted smile before standing up and opening the door.

"Guess I should tell them now, huh?" he said as his sister nodded. "But first, I wanna check something."

Jazz gave him a confused glance but nodded encouragingly. "Okay, I'll wait for you downstairs. They won't pressure you into telling them now but seem pretty eager."

She gave him one last look before exiting the boy's room, leaving him alone. He rubbed his neck and stared at the floor, hoping to come with any excuse but each one led to a dead end. He didn't want to lie to them, knowing they'll find out anyway and become furious with him. And he couldn't figure out an excuse to prevent them from knowing. That led him to think that he'll just have to tell them the truth.

However, he still had a bit of doubt. What if it was still an act? What if they still didn't trust the halfa? Would they ever forgive him? Would they try to experiment on him? After all, they're ghosthunters and inventors; correction, anti-ghost inventors.

"Danny! Lunch is ready!" his mother yelled from downstairs. "Coming!"

When he received no response, he assumed she had heard him and went to change into something more comfortable. He was still wearing his jacket and felt really warm since his body temperature is cold all the time.

After he was done, he forced himself to leave his room and dragged his legs downstairs, to where his parents were waiting for him. As soon as he entered the kitchen, he was met with a nice smell of meat and- _burnt toast_? Why did it smell like burnt toast in here?

He peaked in and noticed his mother frantically trying to cool down the now crisp toasts. He entered the kitchen and sat on an empty chair. The first person to notice was his sister, who shot him an encouraging smile. Then, after the toast was taken care of, his mother looked at him and smiled warmly.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention to-"

"Wait! Is that Fenton toast?" his father asked, peering in sadness at the burnt toast. Maddie rolled her eyes but nodded, about to throw it away when Jack suddenly stood up, quickly stopping her from doing so. "No, wait! I'll eat it!"

Maddie gave him a confused look but shrugged, not really caring and took a seat at the table. For the first couple of minutes, the family ate quietly, sometimes exchanging thoughts and joking around though Danny had a hard time eating. Either the cheese sandwich did it's job, or his stomach was in knots.

"Danny? Are you okay?" his mother asked worryingly, noticing not much was eaten from her son's plate. Danny set the utensils on the plate and turned to face his parents.

"Why do you guys want to know Phantom's identity?" he asked in seriousness, avoiding to use the full name of the hero. His parents gave him surprised glances while his sister just stared soberly at her psychological book.

"Well," his mother responded, placing her own fork down slowly. "For starters, we want to ask him questions about how it happened, if his parents are like that too, his powers, etc. All that type of stuff. We also want to get to meet him and be able to apologize for previously hunting him."

"And you guys won't... y'know, take him in for experiments or hurt him or anything, right?" Danny hesitantly asked to which his parents had stopped eating and stared at him with a disappointed and sad look on their faces.

"Danny... Is that what you think of us? Crazy people who would hunt every ghost down for the thrill of it?" Maddie asked, trying to mask the hurt in her voice.

"What? No-"

"Son, we would never hurt a kid, _anyone_, to begin with. That's not who we are. Sure we're ghosthunters, but we have a reason for what we do-"

"But you had no trouble hurting him _before_ you knew he was half human, right?! Say, where did you get the blood sample anyway? Did you maybe hurt him? Didn't you know-"

"Danny," his mother interrupted, soft yet demanding. Danny stopped but frowned, looking away. Forget ever telling them his secret half. They would reject him for sure! What was Jazz thinking about telling them the truth? They are **ghost hunters**. Danny was about to get up from the table and call it a night when his father placed a hand on his own.

"Danny, please listen to us for a minute," Jack pleaded as Danny stopped before sighing and sitting back down. "We're extremely sorry for hurting your friend. He must be really hurt right now, and his family must be worried about him too. We don't want to make you feel guilty for being the son of the ghost hunters who hurt the ghost boy. Just, listen to us."

"Your father is right. The reason we ever hunted ghosts was because didn't trust them. Don't forget the time Phantom threatened the mayor and ruined Christmas. We had our doubts even when he started doing good for the city and were suspicious. After all, why would a ghost fight it's entire race just to save some humans he doesn't even know? When the truth was revealed to us, we then understood why Phantom did the things he did and all our suspicious vanished," Maddie explained as Danny's gaze softened but refused to meet their eyes.

"This boy is like any other teenage boy, except he's more unique. We can't imagine the amount of stress he's been put into, both school and fighting ghosts. Although we can't undo the mistakes we have done in the past, we would like to change that. If you don't want to tell us who it is, that's okay. But we can't have you stay mad at us like that," Jack continued on as Danny smiled, feeling a lot better. Somehow, hearing it from both his parents made him feel better. He opened his mouth to say something but couldn't.

"I- Mom. Dad, I need to tell you something," he whispered, words barely coming out of his mouth. Both his parents looked at him with a weird expression while his sister sighed, getting up and walking upstairs to her room. She knew he needed the space and it was going to get really dramatic.

"What is it, sweetie? Are you okay? You don't look good, maybe you should-"

"No. It's fine- I'm fine. It's just that I've been meaning to tell you this from the beginning but I was too scared to," he stuttered out, holding onto the bottom of the chair for comfort. "I'm... Danny Phantom. I'm the ghost boy you were searching for."

His parents looked at him wide-eyed, not knowing how to respond to such an answer. That was _not_ what they were expecting. After all this time, their son was a ghost?

Danny was starting to think he made a mistake when both his parents engulfed him in a warm hug.

"Oh Danny, I'm so sorry! You must have been terrified, especially those past few days. I-I don't know how to react," his mother stuttered as his dad nodded in agreement.

"Son, we hurt you a lot. If I were you, I would've been scared for my life, especially after the last encounter," his dad added as Danny let them hug them, sighing in relief. They pulled back, staring at him with love and guilt.

"And I appreciate that a lot more than you think," Danny said after a while, composing himself. His parents nodded, giving him another hug.

"We're glad. We're sorry if we forced you into this," Maddie said.

"Nah, it's fine. You would've found out sooner or later anyway."

* * *

**A/N: Okay, okay, this is a week after I started this chapter and I'm finally done! Hooray! I'm very, very sorry for the late update (I'm not dead) and I promise you I'll be updating more frequently. (After I get actual sleep lmao) I had to restart this chapter because I didn't feel satisfied which also took me a long time. I'm still not satisfied though. **

**Words: 11 471**


	9. Chapter Six: Ghost High?

**A/N: Hey! The new fanfic is out! However, I only have the prologue and it's pretty short. I'll try to keep the updates more frequent though! Sorry for the late update by the way (Again)! You'd think I'd be more productive now that I have a month off of school. :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom, I simply only own the plots.**

* * *

"Who elected you to be my guardian again?" Danny groaned, phasing his arm into his locker and grabbing his messy binder.

"Funny. I'm simply giving you advice. No need to act so salty," Sam shot back, piercing her lips in distaste and crossing her arms. Danny sighed and turned to his female friend, rubbing his neck.

"I- Look, I'm sorry. It's just that I've been another victim of my dad's crazy inventions from last night's patrol and my head really hurts. You know how I get when I'm drowsy" he explained tiredly before starting to walk to his _favorite_ class; English.

"It's fine, I guess. Just tell me when you're in a bad mood and I'll stay far away from you," she teased as Tucker join in, grinning.

"Not to mention he has Lancer right now. On a _Monday_ morning," the techno-geek added before going back to paying attention to his PDA.

"Thanks for reminding me Tuck. Hope you're really happy now," Danny grumbled sarcastically as his male friend chuckled in response but said nothing back, shaking his head.

"By the way, what invention were you experimented on again?" Sam asked, a bit curious to know what the Fenton's had invented this time.

"Oh, I don't know? Something to dissect me with? On second thought, I don't remember it really hurting me too much. The headache really came from my parents squeals at 12am midnight," he said, frowning at the thought as Sam raised an eyebrow, wanting him to continue. "I don't know, it just felt weird. Like the machine was supposed to... investigate me? Collect information about my body? Now that I say it out loud, that just sounds weird."

"Man, that does sound creepy! What do you think they were searching for?" Tucker asked, taking his eyes off his PDA, now interested in the conversation.

"I don't know? It was pretty late and I was tired. All I remember is something light sticking on me and then leaving ten minutes after with a zap," Danny explained.

"Didn't you pay attention to that thing? _At all?_ It could've been dangerous! For all we know, the pain could kick in any minute now," Sam exclaimed.

"Don't jinx it," Danny warned but let his other friend continue.

"Yeah man! Why would you let something stick on you without knowing what it is? I understand that they are your parents, but they don't know that you're their son. Let's just say the feelings are not mutual," Tucker said, raising an eyebrow.

"I already told you guys! I was too tired and not really paying attention to my surroundings. Plus, I'm fine now, I think. I don't feel weird... aside from the light burn I had a couple of days ago from Skulker's metallic wings.

"Ouch. Promise me you'll tell us when you need help. Don't be stubborn," Sam said, frowning at the memory.

"You guys were sick! I didn't want to bother you both, especially since I was the cause of it," he said but spoke quickly when Sam directed a cold glare at his direction. "But I'll tell you when I need help, I promise."

"Both of us," Tucker said, raising an eyebrow, as Danny rolled his eyes but nodded.

"Anyway, me and Tuck gotta go. I believe we don't have classes in the morning so we'll see you at lunch, right?" she said, smiling sadly as her ghost friend nodded, smiling back.

"Yup," he said, stopping right in front of 's class. "But the good thing is that I'm not even late-"

Before Danny can continue his sentence, he was interrupted by screams of students in the hallway of Casper High.

"Why'd you jinx it?" Sam asked dryly as Tucker chuckled but gave a sad smile, placing his backpack on the floor and pulling out the Fenton thermos.

Danny looked around, noticing how many had left the hallway they were standing in. In the distance, Danny could see a blurry figure... At first, he thought it was Skulker back to terrorize him with a new dangerous gadget, but as the ghost ̶w̶a̶l̶k̶e̶d̶ floated further, his appearances started to become recognizable.

Blue face, overalls with a dark blue matching hat and gloves, and the usual phrase. Of course. Who else would it be? The perfect ghost to get on anyone's nerves. Especially on a Monday morning. Why does this stuff always happen on Monday anyway? Is it just a cursed day or something?

"Beeware! I am the booox ghoost!" The ghost wooed in the most ghostly cliche sound to be heard. Danny knew the voice too well by now. He groaned, considering that he might not even need to transform to his ghost half. So he motioned to Tucker who was holding Fenton thermos and nodded, telling him to aim it at the ghost already.

Tucker complied and aimed at the annoying ghost before blasting the bright blue laser and sucking him into the thermos. The action didn't even need further conversation nor any further conflict. Danny rolled his eyes and thanked his friend before walking back to his English class.

He didn't even notice that the bell had actually rang and that everyone was in their seats, including Mr. Lancer who wasn't looking too pleased.

"Ah, Mr. Fenton. What is it this time?" the teacher asked, frustrated, holding a Shakespeare book at his hands.

_So I guess even Mr. Lancer hates Mondays too. What do you know?_ Danny thought to himself, resisting the urge to break into a grin. And he thought there were no similarities between himself and his teacher.

"Uh, I ran into a kid that wanted my attention and it took me a long time to get him what he wanted. It's fine now, he won't bother me again," Danny said, using a poor excuse. The now annoyed teacher sighed, but didn't say anything for a while and gestured at his pupil's seat.

"Don't repeat it again, understood?" Mr. Lancer said, tired of Danny's excuses as the half-ghost nodded, mumbling a quick 'yes' and taking a seat at his desk.

Danny really hoped today would go smoother and that it would just be a normal day. But he had a feeling that it's going to be far more than normal.

* * *

"**Fenton!**" the familiar voice yelled out, flooding the school hallways.

_Oh no, not __**again.**_

"Great, I'm about to get fried," Danny grumbled to himself as Sam raised an eyebrow.

"What did you do to him this time?" she asked, Tucker listening along.

"Nothing! I did absolutely _nothing_! I was just minding my own business when I stepped on gum that Dash purposely placed beside my desk chair and when I tried getting it out, I accidentally pulled too hard and ended up pushing Dash's desk from behind. Which fortunately stubbed his toe," he truthfully explained, snickering a little.

"That's karma, if you ask me," Sam chuckled, grinning along with Tucker.

"So are you running away from him now?" the techno-geek asked, wearing the same look.

"I wouldn't say running. More like _'avoiding'_. Isn't that a much nicer word?" Danny said and turned around to see Dash's group approaching them. "But what would really be nice is if we get out of here, and _fast_."

Danny grabbed both his friends and rushed them out the door, receiving confused looks by his classmates along the way. He ignored them however, and pushed open the doors, finally free.

But he didn't stop there. His friends trailed behind him, speed-walking even further out of school grounds and onto the sidewalk.

Danny looked back to see that Dash's mob was fortunately not behind them. He sighed and went back to walking at a normal speed as his friends copied, shooting him annoyed glances.

"You do know that he's gonna get us involved again," Sam started.

"Yeah, and I don't want to be stuffed in a locker again. It's not pretty there, I tell you!" Tucker exclaimed with a worried look.

"Guys, guys, it's okay. I have it handled," he calmed them down.

"Yeah, that's a lie. I can't believe you fight ghosts like Skulker but you're afraid of a school bully that could easily obey you if you reveal your secret," Tucker shot back, smirking. Danny said nothing but rolled his eyes, not really finding a response.

The trio continued to walk back home and talk about the usual. Teachers, homework, etc. When Danny finally arrived back home, he said his goodbyes and entered the suspiciously quiet house. He peeked into the living room to find his sister, reading a book on the sofa. She always came earlier because she had a car. She though usually drives her brother and his friends to school and back home, but today was a nice day and Danny told her he wanted to hang out with his friends without disruptions.

At first, she didn't realize that there was a second presence in the room until there was a loud bang downstairs. She jumped a little and looked around, smiling when met eye contact with her brother.

"And how was school today?" she asked.

"Glad I still exist. You know, I'm not in my ghost form right now," he grumbled, tossing his backpack at a nearby corner and plopping onto the opposite couch.

"You didn't answer my question," she said back, raising an eyebrow.

"Fine."

"You really expect me to believe that?" she said with a raised eyebrow, but said nothing else, going back to her psychology book.

Another loud bang was heard from under the ground and it was Danny's turn to raise his eyebrows at his sister.

"What are they doing?" he asked, referring to his parents.

"I don't know," his sister shrugged, eyes still in the book. "Why don't you check it out? You know I'm not a fan of ghost stuff. No offense to you."

Danny rolled his eyes, ignoring his sisters last comment and deciding to check it out. He got up and walked out the room, going down to where his parents spent most of their time in. He turned around the corner and walked right into the lab, now a bit more cautious.

In the lab were both of his parents, seemingly serious about something. They were leaning over the counter, their eyes focused onto the small plate and chip beside it. At the side was also a familiar technological ghost weapon; that was the same one that got attached to him last night!

Danny was now even more curious as to why his parents were so focused, though he knew from previous experiences that curiosity was never good. It literally killed him! Well, half anyway.

He decided not to bother them and stood a good distance away from them, preferring not to get mixed up with the chemicals. Especially ones that could harm him without his parents knowing what was exactly wrong.

He waited and waited, studying the multiple other inventions that his parents have created (most of them successful, in their own ways) until he heard a victory clap from his father who was looking really happy.

"We did it Maddie! We finally figured out who the ghost boy is!" his father yelled out as his mother grinned.

At his father's words, Danny's heart stopped. _Wait what-_

Jack turned and grinned even wider when he saw his son. He went up to him and hugged him tight, raising him up.

"Can you believe it Dannyboy? We finally figured that ghost kid out!" he yelled again as Danny stayed still, forgetting how to breathe.

_Is this it? Is this the end?_ **(A/N: I know this scene is supposed to be serious but I can't help but mention these are going to be my exact thoughts when I go back to school)**

"W-what do you mean?" Danny stuttered out, not finding the proper words to say in the situation he's in.

"That the ghost kid is a human, of course. And a teen to be exact!" his mom replied back instead of his dad, excitement apparent in her voice as well.

"**WHAT!?**" Danny screamed and in less than a second, his sister was downstairs, her voice shocked by the news.

"Mom? Dad? Is that right what I'm hearing?" Jazz asked, still not believing her parents. _How did they find out?_

"Oh we're positive. Wait until the people find out about this!" Maddie said, hugging her husband as the two continued to grin.

_Oh boy._

* * *

"Guys, we're in a _big_ problem. Well I am, actually. What am I supposed to do? Pretend like nothing ever happened until my parents figure out who exactly the ghost boy is?!" Danny exclaimed on the phone as he heard sighs from the other line.

Danny had immediately gone to call his two friends since it was too late to visit them. They both seemed worried, especially since the whole world knew by now who he was.

"Okay, but first we need to calm you down," Sam said in a sober voice, successfully hiding her nervousness.

"Yeah man! The more you panic, the more things will get worse for you," Tucker stated, his voice laced with worry too.

"_Worse?_ **Worse?!** How are things supposed to get worse than they already are?" Danny screamed, not caring at what he was saying at the moment.

"Well, your entire identity can be revealed-"

"_Don't_ jinx it, Tuck! Every time you say stuff like that, it comes true. And we're talking about Danny's identity here," the goth warned, not having it.

The half ghost hybrid groaned, jumping onto his bed carelessly with his face coming in contact with his pillow. His friends couldn't understand what came out of his mouth after that except for inhumane muffles.

After calming down for a bit, Danny moved his face away from the pillow and sighed once more. He was now feeling more nervous than angry.

"You done?" Sam asked in a sarcastic and worried tone as a weak chuckle was heard from Tucker.

"Yes, I'm just feeling a bit uneasy," he answered back, his lips pierced tightly together.

"I don't know man, you still seem a little ticked off. Maybe we should call you back later. Does an hour seem good?" Tucker asked, a bit unsure.

"No, no, it's fine. I'm not mad at you guys, more at myself actually. If I've been paying attention to my surroundings last night, _none_ of this would've happened," Danny explained, rubbing his neck.

"Wait, so what did it do exactly?" Sam asked curiously.

"A microchip was harmlessly inserted in me using the tool gun which launched it. That chip was supposed to study my body and it looks like it did a pretty good job. After that, it was removed and the machine found in my parent's lab took out the information out of the chip and calculated the results," he explained further.

"Wow. Looks like the invention worked this time, in their own way of course," Sam said, buying the information.

"Well, now that they know what you are, what do you think they'll do?" Tucker asked.

"Do you want the good news or bad news?" Danny asked, answering his friend's question with another question.

"Good."

"Bad."

"I was asking for one answer," Danny said annoyed.

"Fine, good," Sam grumbled, not really caring at this point.

"Very well. My parents claimed that they wouldn't hunt me down. At first, I didn't believe them but I decided to try something. I switched to my ghost half and hovered outside our house and they indeed didn't. Unlike last time, my father didn't react when he saw me float by while taking a shower. Instead, he smiled at me. I was very confused at that time," Danny explained, feeling kind of better with these news. "But there's the bad news however, which left me panicking for a whole hour with Jazz."

"I'm afraid to ask," Tucker said worriedly.

"Oh no, what is it?" Sam asked eagerly.

For a minute, all there could be heard was heavy breathing from the other line and low grumbles.

"Why'd you get so quiet? Come on, don't keep us waiting!" Tucker finally said, breaking the silence.

"I- Okay. So since I'm still a teenager, I'm still required to attend school... as Danny Phantom," he quietly said.

_**"What!?"**_

"Yeah, I know it sounds bad but-"

"You have to go to school even when you're dead? Well, half-dead in your case. Who made these stupid rules? And people say that we get to rest in peace when we die," Sam grumbled.

"How are they even gonna manage this. _You're a ghost_. Ghosts don't go to school. And aren't you considered a threat to them?" Tucker added.

"Will you guys hear me out first?!" Danny yelled as the questions stopped and everyone got quiet. "Thank you. First off, I'm not fully dead. They now consider me as a human too, a kid that needs to get an education."

"But what makes them think you aren't attending school already. Surely you're just a teenage boy, struggling to keep up with school and hiding an identity."

"Because I'm always outside during school hours, duh. You'd think I miss classes and skip homework while not getting enough sleep a normal thing for me? They most likely think I'm some sort of rebellious child or something," Danny explained. "And to answer your question Tuck, they are already starting to warm up to me. I'm a hero now, remember? Except to my parents and GiW. But my parents aren't hunting me down anymore, and the GiW have been ordered not to cause harm to me. And to ensure that I'm indeed genuine and won't try anything at school, there'll be a few guards."

The two friends nodded, starting to understand the situation fully. Until another thought crossed Sam's head.

"But wait ..." she started, worried again. "How can you be at two places at the same time? Don't tell me you plan on skipping a Danny each day. You're already far behind on your studies and exams are two months away."

"You aren't going to split yourself in half again, are you? Because if you are... I call dibs on Fun Danny™!" Tucker quickly said.

"Ugh! You do that every time! It's not fair!" Sam growled.

"Uh guys, don't you remember last time I split myself in half? It was a complete disaster!" Danny exclaimed, rolling his eyes at his friends behaviors.

"Yeah, yeah. It's best we don't repeat that again," Sam understandingly said as Tucker responded with a 'yes' in return.

"But then what are you going to do?" the techno-geek asked.

"Well, I can duplicate obviously. And if there's a ghost attack during school, I'll just merge my two halves together and fight the ghost. If anyone asks where Fenton is, you'll give them any excuse like always. It'll be the same except Phantom will be attending school," Danny explained as Tucker chuckled.

"I can't wait for the reaction of the other students though. I've checked your fan website and man, every single student is going nuts," Tucker said with amusement.

"Oh, and the minute 'Phantom' decides to hang out with us will have Dash and Paulina dying on the inside," Sam snickered, imagining the scene.

"Thanks for the hype guys. I'm about to get run down by animals and both of you will just stand there and record the whole thing I bet. _Great friends,_" Danny said, the last comment dripping with sarcasm.

"Oh you'll be fine. If your fangirls get too violent, we'll step in," Tucker joked.

"But I doubt you'll need the help. You're a ghost after all and can just turn invisible or intangible," Sam added, grinning from ear to ear.

"I feel much better, thanks," Danny replied dryly. He really couldn't believe the amount of support he was getting. However, his smiling face was soon replaced with a look of absolute distraught. He looked terrified, as if he was forced to eat a cute puppy.

"Guys! Oh my god, why didn't I think of this before," Danny said, his voice screaming 'danger!'

"What, what!?" both his friends said in unison, confused at their friend's abrupt behavior.

"Do you understand what it means to attend school in two different people?"

"Uh, you have different friends and teachers?" Tucker responded.

"You have to act in two different personalities?" Sam added, still confused.

"**No!** It means I get double the amount of homework! As if Mr. Lancer wasn't enough! I'm barely passing my studies, how am I supposed to fit this in my schedule?" Danny yelled, his face paling even more now that he said it out loud.

"Oh wait, that's true! It also means you have to listen to the lessons and instructions at the same time! You'll obviously get overwhelmed and have both halves confused at the end," Sam inserted, addressing the problem.

"Oh man, that's hard. I can maybe help? Plus it's probably temporary-" Tucker said.

"It's permanent," Sam interrupted in a matter-of-factually tone. "It said so in the news, 'until the boy graduates high school, it's mandatory for him to continue his education'"

"Great. This a huge nightmare," Danny groaned, going back to lying on his bed.

"Oh cheer up Danny! Things can't be _that_ bad. We'll help you focus since we might share classes with 'Phantom' and so only one duplicate will need to pay attention. And we'll make sure nobody gets too close to you. As long as you lay low and pay attention to your surroundings," Sam said in a caring voice.

"Yeah man! We're here for you!" Tucker said encouragingly.

"Thanks guys. I appreciate it, I really do," Danny replied in a sincere tone.

* * *

"As much as I want to believe you guys and stay positive, I don't think things will be going that way. At all," Danny confirmed dryly, standing in front of the school doors with his friends at his side. A week had passed and the council finally decided it was time for Phantom to attend school. On a stupid Monday.

"Yeah, you're probably right-" Tucker said but was interrupted by Sam nudging his elbow, shooting him a deadly glare. "Buuuuut I'm sure it's just how it looks on the outside and the inside is way better."

"Oh come on Danny. It really can't be that bad. Plus, we've agreed you'll show up in your ghost form last minute so that there aren't many students in the hallway," Sam said reassuringly as Danny nodded, still not completely sure.

"I don't know guys. I have a bad feeling I'll screw things up first day," Danny admitted, scratching his black raven hair back.

The trio looked at the school, still surprised. The whole school was decorated with welcome banters and positive posters. All of them were filled with love from the halfghost's fans, some with appreciation and others simply welcoming him into the school. And everybody looked really excited, which was unusual on a Monday morning.

"Look at the bright side. You're making people feel happy about attending school now," Tucker chuckled.

"I guess... but have you seen how much they worked to decorate the outside? Imagine what it would look like on the inside," the hybrid said, astonished.

"Well, enough chit chat. Let's get inside and go to class. We have English together and from Phantom's timeline, it looks like he has the same class as us," Sam smirked as Danny rolled his eyes.

"You're speaking as if we're two completely different people," Danny said, pushing open the door and letting his friends enter first.

"You don't expect me to reveal your identity like that, do you?" Sam said amused, raising an eyebrow.

"Damn, we really must keep an eye on you. We want to keep your identity a secret for at least a few weeks," Tucker said jokingly.

"That's funny Tuck. I don't recall you being careful about his identity either," Sam joked but stopped unexpectedly, having the technogeek and half ghost bump behind her.

"Hey! I'm totally reliable- Hey, why'd you stop," Tucker asked confused.

"Sam?" Danny asked, waiting for an answer and when he received nothing, both boys walked in front of her, taking a look at what made their friend freeze.

The scene was shocking. The whole school was decorated in a green and black theme with posters and welcoming signs everywhere. Students wore black shirts with the ghostboy's emblem in the front, whispering excitedly and waiting for the entrance of their idol.

"Woah. This is insane," Tucker exclaimed walking further down the hallways. "I almost don't recognize this place!"

"They've put so much effort in this," Sam whispered, eyes wide.

"And that's what makes me feel worse. Now I'm even more forced to attend school. _I was actually thinking of ditching,_" Danny said, saying the last part quietly so his friends can't hear.

"Yeah, but we better get to class before Lancer decides to give you detention for the tenth time this month," Sam said, rushing past the crowded hallway with her friends tugging along.

Danny decided to now command his other duplicate as soon as the bell rang.

Danny Phantom looked from above, invisible, as he watched the swarming students scatter to their class, hoping to have the famous celebrity enter their class. The half ghost sighed, turning visible as soon as the last of them had been gone. He slowly floated back onto the ground, his glowing white boots now touching the dirty school floor.

_Now, how do I make an entrance?_ Danny pondered to himself as he walked slowly to his designated classroom, every minute feeling like a second.

He really despised Monday's.

Danny sighed, now standing in front of the closed door as his hand hovered above the knob. He hesitated, unsure of how to act even though he's entered this unpleasant class many times. It was just his luck Phantom was going to have Lancer as his first teacher.

He smiled knowing his friends would be there, and that only one Danny would need to pay attention. The only problem would be homework, however he knew it wouldn't be too bad. Especially since he's the new student.

Danny opened the door cautiously, as if a hungry lion was waiting behind it. He entered, making sure to _not_ make any eye contact with the pupils looking at him with amazement. He closed the door behind him, and from the corner of his eye, the admired gazes he was getting was making him blush. He willed his ice powers to cool him down so nobody would notice.

He adjusted his pose to appear confident and Mr. Lancer smiled, crossing his arms.

"Ah... Mr. Phantom. I was expecting you- say, what would you like us to call you? Danny, or would that mix things up?" the teacher said as Danny opened his mouth.

"Call me Dan-" Danny stopped halfway, taking time to think about. He can't tell them to call him Danny; that would raise suspicion, especially since his human half is in the same class as him. And he can never call himself Dan, especially after what happened with his evil future self encounter. "Uh, just call me Phantom."

To his luck, not only were his friends in the same class, but so were Dash, Paulina and every A-lister to exist. So when the teacher gestured him to sit in the seat in the middle of the class, Phantom internally groaned, seeing beside him were the jocks, and the other side were all the cheerleaders. He had a feeling they were the ones who arranged it because they weren't seated like this last week. Or the week before that.

Phantom took a seat, sighing heavily as his body stayed stiff. It was quite uncomfortable to have everybody staring at him like that. You see, he wasn't used to such attention and even when he had fans attend his fights, he always escaped before they came too close.

this was different however. Every few seconds he would hear murmurs and whispers (thanks to his hearing ability), and 'Phantom' was said in every conversation. He wondered if his classmates were listening to the lesson.

And the guard standing silently at the back was giving him goosebumps. What did they think he would try? Ditch school? Bully a kid?

Mr. Lancer started as soon as he was seated, going back to the lesson. The only thing Phantom liked about his teacher was that he wasn't treated differently from everyone else. He was just any normal teenage student.

Phantom hoped the class would end. And that was only the first period. What was he supposed to do for the rest of his three years?

* * *

During lunch break, Danny decided to merge his duplicate so that he wouldn't be attacked by his fans. He didn't see the point in hanging out as Phantom, he can always dismiss himself as being invisible. Plus, he was hungry and any food sounded good to him. Even if it was Sam's vegan diet.

"How was your first day of school?" Sam asked amused as the trio sat in their usual table, eating their lunches quietly.

"Shh! People can hear you," Danny hushed her and went back to eating his sandwich. The truth is, he wanted to eat in peace and forget what happened the classes after English. He still had goosebumps from all the stares and conversations going on about him. At that moment, he wished he didn't have hearing abilities.

Sam rolled her eyes, stabbing her fork onto a piece of lettuce.

"Oh _nobody's _paying attention to us, they're all talking about Phantom, right Tucker?" she replied back, grinning. She was clearly enjoying this. Tucker however, was busy on his PDA and only hummed in response before going back to his game.

"Just pretend it's a normal first day of school. And that you're just luckily liked by everyone, except Wes, of course," she said as Danny groaned, placing his sandwich back on the Styrofoam plate.

"Easy for you to say. You're not the one who's guarded by the GiW, or has people giving you googly eyes while walking down the hallways, or can hear fangirls talking about you all the time. Even Dash stopped wailing on Fenton because he was too busy admiring Phantom all the time," he explained, picking up his sandwich and taking another bite. Sam only gave him an encouraging smile.

"Don't worry Danny. Me and Tucker will always be here for you," Sam said and turned to Tucker with a glare. "Right Tuck?"

The threatening voice that came from the female goth made Tucker quickly face his friends and give a smile too.

"Y-yeah! We're always here!" he said as Danny chuckled weakly.

"Wow, thanks for the support Tuck. I feel much better now," he sarcastically said as Tucker grinned.

"That's what I do!"

"Now enough of that, what do you have next?" Sam asked as she held her hand, waiting for him to give his timeline.

"Um, I don't know. Here," he said, giving her the paper as she inspected it with a frown look.

"Oh great, you don't have classes with neither me or Tucker. Except for 'Fenton' of course," she said as the hybrid groaned.

"So Phantom's also doomed in having double Lancer. Can this day get any worse?"

"Don't jinx it," Sam warned Danny. "But at least not both of you will have to pay attention."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. It's last period right?" he asked as Sam nodded. "Okay then, I just have to get through this period and we'll be fine."

"Doomed after school?" Tucker asked as Danny grinned, knowing they were close to the final level.

"You bet!" Danny agreed.

"As a treat for you to surviving the day, why don't we all play it in my house? I also have some new treats and we can watch a movie afterwards," Sam suggested as the boys nodded happily, liking the idea.

The bell rang, breaking the trio out of their trance as Danny sighed and summoned his duplicate, making him invisible.

"Well, see you after school?" Tucker said as Danny gave both of his friends a weak smile.

"Yeah, see ya later," he said back and watched his two friends walked out of the cafeteria and disappear from view.

"I wonder where the ghost boy could have gone," the female cheerleader pondered as he saw Paulina and Star walk past him.

"Maybe to fight some ghost? He's always busy," Star said as Paulina nodded sadly but then her eyes lightened.

"Oh, I can't wait till Valentine's day! Maybe then I can confess my love to him," she whispered excitedly to her friend as Danny cringed and quickly walked to his class. He totally forgot that Valentine's day happens every year and that since he was present, he'll have love notes from almost every girl in the school at his locker. He pushed past people and walked into class, noticing Valerie was there too.

"Hey Danny," she said, but today she sounded less cheerful than she usually was.

"Hey Val. Are you okay?" he asked taking a seat beside her.

"Yeah, I'm just annoyed how the ghostkid is in our class this period," the ghosthunter bitterly said, glaring at the door and waiting for a certain someone to enter the classroom.

"U-Uh, why? He's just a kid like us," Danny stuttered, gulping nervously. He also forgot about this problem. To his surprise, the female only sighed.

"I know... I know he's also human but I'm just suspicious of him. We don't even know he is! He could be a serial killer for all we know! But I should probably cut him off some slack..." she continued as she froze the minute Phantom entered but raised an eyebrow at the nervous look he was wearing. "Why does he look so uneasy?"

"Maybe because he heard you? My parents told me that ghosts have good hearing abilities and he must be worried that you don't like him," Danny quickly said as Phantom took a seat a few seats back.

"Uh-huh. Anyway, did you finish the math homework Lancer assigned to us?" she asked as she turned to search for the homework paper in her backpack, turning back and shooting a small glare at the boy.

"N-no, but you already know that," he said, feeling even more unpleasant. Maybe he should have his ghosthalf ditch this one class. School was almost over anyway and-

Before Mr. Lancer could start his math lesson, screens erupted the school and everybody froze, including Phantom. Who was it this time? The box ghost? He hoped not, that ghost came by every day!

Mr. Lancer quickly locked the door to keep the students safe. Phantom was about to phase out of the door when someone, a ghost, appeared before their eyes.

"Greetings, whelp! Did you miss me?" the ghosthunter grinned as Phantom crossed his arms, smirking.

"Actually yes. I was wondering when you would pay me the next visit, but maybe we should take this... somewhere else," the ghostkid said, surveying the students staring at him in amazement. He needed an excuse so that he can merge himself back to his original as he couldn't fight like this. Who knew what surprises Skulker prepared?

"No, no. I find this the _perfect_ place. I heard you attend school here and I wanted to check up on you. Imagine my shock when I find both of you here. Oh well, two is better than one!" Skulker said with a predatory grin as the students gave each other confused looks. When Skulker noticed that everybody seemed unaware of that and Phantom was now acting uneasy, he decided to continue the conversation.

"Oh, they don't know? I thought they'd have figured it out lately. Well then, ladies and gentlemen, this one here is a duplicate of the original, which is human right now and has been attending your school for a while," the ghosthunter said amused as Phantom growled and Danny shot him a glare. The students stared at each other in shock, inspecting everyone in the classroom to try and uncover the human identity.

"I thought you came here to cage me up. You were never the type to start conversations. What happened? Are your weapons no use anymore that you have to use words now?" Phantom smirked panicking as Skulker frowned.

"You're right. I can torture your little friends later, after I hang your head up my wall," the ghost said, smirking as he quickly grabbed his new weapon and blasted the ghost boy to the wall.

The class screamed as they watched their hero fall to the ground in one shot. However Phantom didn't give up yet. He quickly got up despite his aching body and gave his enemy a good ectoplasmic shot that made Skulker drop his weapon. Although he was a duplicate, he still had enough energy to take down a ghost.

The ghost hunter laughed, getting up again as Phantom shot him a confused look. Before he can say anything, he felt an unpleasant tingling in his body, forcing him to slowly hover to the floor.

"What are you laughing at!" he yelled, the sensation growing stronger as the ghosthunter continued to laugh.

"Don't you know what I hit you with? Oh, then let me explain my newest masterpiece," the ghost said confidently as Danny groaned. "This is used to drain half a ghost's energy for about an hour, which is enough time for me. I was going to use it on the original, but now that you already duplicated yourself, your duplicate is expected to vanish in a couple of minutes."

Phantom stared at his original self in panic, feeling the process already performing. He forced another blast at his enemy which fortunately knocked him down and interrupted his evil laughter, but he felt himself become even weaker until... he turned into green ectoplasm, dumped onto the ground.

The terrified students screamed as they watched their hero collapse while Skulker laughed.

"Oh, don't worry. I wouldn't kill him, yet. I'm the ghostzone's greatest hunter, I collect prey. This one is simply just a duplicate of the original, which is currently in your class, staring at his ectoplasm in horror," the ghosthunter explained with a grin as the screams calmed down, but were now worried.

"Oh my god, I can't believe this," Valerie whispered to Danny as he nodded slowly, gulping down his fear. "I have to do something!"

Danny knew what she was referring to but didn't ask, knowing that she didn't know that he knew she was a ghost hunter. Plus, he had other problems to handle. Like what he was going to do now before Skulker got anymore crazy ideas.

Now that the whole class knows that Phantom was just a duplicate,they know that the original is someone in their class who had been attending their school for a while like a normal teenager. Danny didn't really have a choice though.

"Now whelp, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. I prefer the hard way as it's more amusing, but it's your choice. Either you come out of your hiding place willingly, or I start firing some shots at these weak mortals," the ghosthunter warned, grabbing a random student in his class by the arm, the weapon resting at the side of his head. One shot and he'll be dead.

At this, Danny had finally had enough. He wasn't going to let someone get hurt just so he can keep his identity a secret.

"Leave him alone, Skulker. It's me you're after, not them. You have enough prey in your collection, why settle for a human?" Danny demanded as the ghosthunter smirked at his trophy, dropping the kid.

"Ah, ghostchild. I was wondering when you would intervene," he said before using the same weapon to blast Danny with. However, this time the halfa was prepared and quickly moved out of the way whilst protecting Kwan who was behind him. He quickly transformed to his ghost half without his battle cry and ignored the shocked gazes he was getting. He flew quickly at Skulker and phased them both out of the classroom.

"You made a big mistake coming here," Danny said darkly as he fired a shot at his enemy followed by a bunch of others. Skulker crashed into the wall forming a crack, his weapon dropping right beside him. The ghosthunter was about to grab it when someone caught it before him.

"Valerie?! What are you doing here?" Danny asked shocked as the female smiled sadly.

"Helping you, duh. You aren't the only one with secrets," she said as Danny rolled his eyes, nodding.

"Yeah, I know. You're the ghosthunter that's been hunting me down since forever," he said casually as Valerie transformed into her red and black suit, shocked as well.

"What?! But how'd you know-"

"Watch out!" Danny yelled quickly as he pushed Valerie out of the way before Skulker could knock her out. They both rolled to the side and the half ghost went back to a fighting stance, firing a shot at the ghost using the same weapon that was previously aimed at him. Before Skulker could react, he felt a tingling feeling in his body and felt himself get drowsy. Danny then flew over to Valerie, worried about her health.

"Valerie? Are you okay?" he asked worriedly as the ghosthunter opened her eyes and then frowned.

"What-" the ghosthunter aimed her electrifying weapon beside Danny's head and blasted it, creating a loud sound. Danny froze and shut his eyes, thinking it was aimed at him. However, when he opened his eyes and looked over his shoulder, he found the ghostzone's greatest hunter knocked out.

"That's what you get for the last time we met," she growled and her gaze immediately softened when she turned to Danny. "I wasn't going to hurt you."

She commanded the system to remove the suit which left Danny confused. Seeing she made no attempt in hurting him, he also transformed back to his human self.

"Look Valerie, I'm sorry about-"

"No, no, you don't have to apologize. I can see why you kept your ghost identity a secret. I'm sorry for hurting you all the time. I must've given you a rough time, which explains why you're always tired during class," she explained, feeling guilty.

"That would've never happened if I stopped that dog from entering Axion's lab. But it really wasn't my dog and I can understand why you did the things you did," he said as she smiled warmly at him.

"Eh, forget it. I got to realize who my real friends were, " she said waving it off as she got up, helping Danny up along since he still felt drowsy from the effects. He groaned, feeling a headache come bu and it continued to increase now that he realized his whole class knew who he was.

"Great. Now wait till tomorrow and the whole school will know who I am," he said as Valerie chuckled weakly, feeling a sting on her arm.

"Well, at least you don't have to go to school in two different people," she said, trying to cheer him up as he nodded. The bell then rang, signaling for last period.

"Yeah, I guess. What do you have now?" he asked.

"Science. We have the same class dummy," she said jokingly as he laughed.

* * *

"So we heard..." Tucker said as soon as the trio met after school, smirking. The decided to get out as soon as possible, knowing that news travels fast and everybody's probably looking for Danny.

Sam rolled her eyes, grumbling to herself as she searched for something in her skirt pockets.

"Here," she snarled, handing twenty bucks to Tucker as Danny raised an eyebrow.

"Um, what's this?" he asked.

"We made a bet. I said that your identity will be revealed the first day while Sam was thinking it will last for over a month. As you can see, I won," Tucker explained as he kissed the money and tucked it into his pockets. "I owe Skulker a favor."

"Seriously? No support? I told the school that they need to keep my identity a secret, but I don't think they will!" Danny exclaimed as the technogeek nodded.

"Yeah, you're right. Girls can't keep secrets," he said in a matter-of-factually tone as Sam shot them an unimpressed look. "Except you, Sam. You're different."

Danny chuckled and watched how Tucker started fidgeting nervously with his yellow shirt as Sam shot him another glare.

"So you think they will keep it a secret?"

"Nope. But rest assured that when the whole world is informed about it, we'll be by your side."

* * *

**Word Count: 7 815**


	10. Chapter Seven: Sleeping Dart

**A/N: Another update? How come? Well...**

**1\. Summer break is almost over and I want to update as much as I can since I haven't been productive this summer tsk tsk.**

**2\. It's my birthday today, August 26 :) I wanna feel accomplished lmao. Anyways, enjoy this chapter that I'm not completely satisfied with!(By the way, I'm writing with a swollen finger so you'll find lots of grammar errors here, sorry!)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom, I simply only own the plots.**

* * *

Danny lay on his bed tiredly late at night, different thoughts running through his head. He was absolutely _exhausted_, especially after preventing twenty-six ghosts yesterday, and fourteen today. He so badly wanted to dive into a deep slumber, but sleep wouldn't come.

He decided to go to sleep early today, 8pm. But he just spent two whole hours rolling around in bed and just feeling overall uneasy. He didn't know what, but he had a gut feeling that today wasn't going to end quickly like it usually did.

He tried everything; he drank two cups of warm milk, counted fifty sheep, stayed still in one position for ten minutes and even read an astronaut book. But nothing seemed to work. It's as if his body was tired, but his brain didn't share the same view. He wondered why he didn't stay awake like this in Mr. Lancer's class. The boy chuckled, deciding he didn't want to know.

Danny then decided to get up after the clock struck 10:30. There was no use in staying in bed if he wasn't going to get sleep. He slipped into his bunny slippers and opened the door before walking downstairs.

He knew his parents were quite busy in the lab, inventing who knows what. It seemed really important... but Danny wasn't too interested. He'll ask his dad about it tomorrow morning, that is, if he got any sleep.

However, his parents decided to take a break and go give Jazz a goodbye. Today, she was going to a sleepover with her friends although Danny knew it wouldn't be any normal sleepover. From what she explained to him, it was going to be a study night with some snacks and advice.

_Pretty boring if you ask me,_ Danny thought to himself. _Who would go visit their friends just to study?_

But of course, this was Jazz he was talking about.

"So how long are you going to stay there for?" Danny asked as he entered the kitchen where Jazz was holding onto her suitcase and talking to her mom.

"Two days, but don't miss me too much," she said, smirking as their mother chuckled and kissed her daughter on the head.

"Okay sweetie, see you on Sunday. Good night," she said before leaving the kitchen.

"I'm glad I'll be free of your psychology talk this weekend," he said with a grin as his sister rolled her eyes.

"Oh don't worry, I'll be back. But in the meantime, don't get into some trouble, hmm?" she said, her eyebrows raised as Danny rolled his eyes but nodded.

"You sound like as if I'm going to blow the house up. I'll be careful Jazz, jeez you worry too much," he joked as his sister laughed, shaking her head.

"I don't know... but please do take care of yourself," she said seriously as she walked out the kitchen doors, giving a short wave.

Danny sighed as he watched his sister leave from behind the window. The wind was pretty strong today that there were rustled leaves everywhere in the garden. For some reason, that bothered him. He didn't know why but he just wasn't a fan of autumn. Maybe because school started at that weather period, or maybe because it reminded him that winter was coming soon. Either way, he didn't really care right now. What he really wanted to do was sleep.

Danny went back to his room, not before wishing his parents goodnight. He noticed that they didn't look like they were heading to sleep either. He shrugged uninterested. It was no surprise they were working on another invention so he didn't bother asking them. He knew that if he did, any hope of falling asleep would vanish.

The half ghost hybrid jumped back into bed but still didn't give into sleep. Somehow, his brain wouldn't just shut off. Like it was begging him to get out of the room and do something that would keep his body active, or in other words, something _dangerous_. He couldn't describe the feeling... it reminded him of someone who had just consumed five cups of coffee. Not that he would know how _that_ felt.

Danny groaned, realizing that this wasn't the way to get himself to sleep. So he decided on the only thing he could think of. Ghost patrol.

He usually patrolled the area with his two best friends, but he knew they were fast asleep by now. Plus, even if they weren't, it was a Friday. He wouldn't bother them by going out just so he can have company. It was also pretty cold and Danny noticed this as soon as he opened his room window and let the air in.

But before going out, he made sure to hide some pillows under the blanket so that if his parents check up on him, it wouldn't appear that he disappeared.

"I'm going ghost!" the boy quietly exclaimed, commanding the white rings to wash over him, transforming him into Phantom. Although the lab was a long way from his room, he wasn't risking his parents hearing him. They would either get suspicious, or send him to a mental hospital! Or perhaps attempt to 'scare-the-spooks' out of him as referred to his dad. He mentally cringed at that memory and shook his head, wanting to forget it.

The half ghost flew out of the window, facing the dark sky. The only source of light came from the bright full moon. Danny made sure to close his window so that his room wouldn't be cold when he returned later at night. At that, he flew back outside and onto the streets, smiling.

Flying was one of the few abilities he enjoyed. He liked the feeling of glistening in the sky, like one of the stars. He felt so... free. He forgot all of his trouble when he was flying carelessly through the sky, not a care in the world.

The boy felt himself get a bit tired. But not completely. He still had some energy stored in his body that was begging to be let out. So Danny decided to now scan the streets so that he can have something to focus on. Maybe if his mind gets bored of the silent city, he might finally get some rest.

But Danny didn't really expect the place to be so... quiet. It was an eerie quiet that made him grow suspicious. There was always something going on, so why was it so silent? Danny shrugged it off but soon regretted jinxing it when his ghost sense went off.

_Of course. I knew I couldn't have one peaceful night without a ghost interrupting it,_ he grumbled to himself but sighed. _But then again, I was the one who insisted on the idea of ghost patrol._

He followed his senses which led him to the dog park. And that's where he spotted his target.

"Haven't see you for a while. Back to attack me again, after your two failed attacks?" he asked with amusement although he knew the ghost couldn't understand him. The giant snake hissed which made Danny raised an eyebrow.

_So it did understand me? Well, what do you know. _

The cobra was paper white with a green underbelly and spiky tail. His blood red eyes bore into Danny's soul, his fangs pulled out, ready to strike it's venom.

Luckily, the half ghost moved out of the way before the snake could strike, missing by a few inches. Danny flew back, holding his arm carefully. He looked to find two cuts already leaking with ectoplasm and blood. The boy quickly fired a shot, not wanting to waste anymore time so he can bandage his injury. He ended up knocking the snake but not quite as it quickly got up, his fangs hissing menacingly at his enemy. But before he can deliver his second blow, the snake was suddenly sucked into... a thermos.

Danny gaped, wondering what his parents were doing here. At first, he thought it was either Sam or Tucker since both had a Fenton thermos of their own. But when he looked over his shoulder, he saw both his parents with serious looks on their faces. However, most of their attention seemed to be on him.

The half ghost watched Maddie tighten the lid on the thermos as she looked at him. But before Danny could even react, he was suddenly shot with something from behind his back. He looked to find a dart, and before he could question what, he felt himself get drowsy. His eyes were beginning to drop and suddenly the world was spinning around him. He forced himself to stay awake, for the sake of staying alive. Five minutes before, he would be begging for this moment.

But if he closed his eyes... who knew what his parents would do to him? To his misfortune, he ended up slowly dropping to the ground and landed on the grass, eyes fully closed. However, he remained in his ghost form as he hadn't willed himself to de-transform yet. He couldn't let his parents see him like that. The depressant that had been inserted in him did make him feel sleepy, but his powers didn't die... yet.

Despite the circumstances, Danny felt quite comfortable. He finally got to sleep. Wasn't that why he came here in the first place?

* * *

***Before Danny went unconscious***

The Fenton parents got out late at night. They didn't feel tired, and wanted to test their new invention out on any ghost nearby to see if it was working.

The newest invention was supposed to not kill the ghost, but have it sleep for a while. It usually worked for 9-10 hours from what they estimated.

Maddie and Jack walked around their neighborhood after deciding to step out of their vehicle when something caught Jack's eyes.

"Hey Mads... do you see that?" Jack asked, frowning at the bright light coming from the dog park that wasn't too far from their home. Maddie turned to look at the same direction her husband was looking at and also wore the same expression.

_What was happening over there?_ It looked like a fight with green light was going on...

"Should we investigate?" Maddie asked with a glint of excitement in her eyes as her husband shook his head in disagreement.

"I don't know. It looks like some teens maybe having a small party or something," he said as he turned to walk away.

"Or it could be a _ghost_," the woman added, getting the attention of the man as he stopped.

"It wouldn't hurt to check it out, actually," he abruptly said with a grin on his face as he rushed to the scene, Maddie following him directly behind him. She rolled her eyes at her husband. _He really did have an obsession with ghosts sometimes. _

The two ghosthunters raced to the source of the light and were stunned by the view. There he was, Danny Phantom. The ghost boy was fighting from what seemed to be a snake ghost. Maddie was about to interfere when the ghost suddenly struck the boy using his fangs and then he started... bleeding.

"Jack! Did you see that?" she frantically whispered, staring in shock at the scene. Jack nodded, having seen it as well and was surprised too. _Ghosts __**can't **__bleed._

The two focused carefully on the injury and noticed how the boy winced when he made movement using his arm.

"But ghosts can't feel pain! _It's __**impossible!"**_ Jack exclaimed as Maddie hushed him but didn't say anything else after that. What was she supposed to say? All the research they have done on ghosts can't compare to this. That if, if he is a ghost.

The thought crossed Maddie's mind. Could it be? Could he be a hybrid? It was very unlikely, and they didn't have enough proof. But she was willing to do whatever it takes to find out what exactly this ghost was.

"Jack! I have an idea," Maddie whispered to Jack as she explained to him that maybe they can take him to his lab and ask him some questions. But they both knew the ghost wouldn't come willingly. They knew he wasn't the type to reveal any secrets about himself from the T.V. they had watched.

"Mads! This is the perfect tool! We can finally test it on him!" Jack said with excitement as Maddie looked at him unsure.

"Hmm, I don't know Jack. I might've not minded hurting him in the beginning, but we just discovered something different about him. What if it does serious damage to him?" she said, her voice laced with worry.

"Oh, don't worry. This doesn't harm them! Now, you stay here and capture that spooky snake while I circle the ghost boy from behind," he explained as Maddie nodded and complied, opening the Fenton thermos that was hanging from her hips and sucked the cobra right into it.

The half ghost looked at the woman in shock, clearly not expecting her to help. But before he can say anything, the woman watched as the boy slowly drifted to the ground. She looked over at Jack who was holding the gadget, glad that it worked. Maddie also sighed, knowing that it shouldn't cause serious harm to the hybrid.

The two carried the light boy in their arms and into their vehicle, straight home.

* * *

Danny felt something uncomfortable. He knew he was sleeping, but it just didn't feel right. He felt like there was something wrong but he couldn't bring himself to wake up. He was exhausted.

The boy turned to the right, hoping to get a bit more comfortable, but no use. He frowned, but didn't really care at the moment. He was tired, and all that mattered was getting some sleep. He didn't remember the last time he got this much sleep. He was usually lucky if he got 6 hours of sleep, and that's speaking in weekends. As for school days, the most he had gotten was 4 hours and a half, which was extremely unhealthy for a boy his age.

The boy turned to the other side again, but this time winced in pain. He felt something sting him at his arm. _Why was his arm in pain?_ When he couldn't take it anymore, he went back to sleeping on his right. Still uncomfortable, but bearable. However, the pain didn't end there. He unconsciously moved his right hand to touch his arm but felt something sticky and wet.

Was it honey? No, that couldn't be. Honey was more viscous. But it's consistency didn't resemble neither water or juice.

At that, Danny knew he had had enough. Sure he wanted to sleep a bit more, but he felt that there was something wrong. He slowly fluttered his eyes open, only to be met by bright light. He instantly regretted his actions and hissed while shielding his eyes using his right hand. But he then realized what it was covered in.

Blood. Blood and ectoplasm. The boy instantly got up, not fully awake but enough to inspect his surroundings. At first, the place looked very bright, and the scent resembled of what seemed to be a hospital. But as he inspected the place more, he realized that he wasn't in a hospital. _He was in his parent's lab._

_**What am I doing here?!**_ The boy asked himself, clearly shocked and uneasy. How'd he get here? Did his powers act up like he had in the beginning and turned intangible while he was sleeping? But he would've felt the pain from the fall.

But... he didn't remember going back to bed. In fact, he couldn't sleep and he decided to go on ghost patrol and...

Danny's eyes widened. _**Wait.**_ _I was fighting that snake ghost when..._

All the pieces came together when he had left his room, fought a ghost, and then his parents showed up. He didn't remember past passing out, but he did remember feeling something pinch his back, like a needle, and his memory going blank. He didn't know what it was but luckily, it didn't look like it caused any major damage to him.

Of course, he had a minor headache, and he was forced into an uncomfortable position...

And then Danny realized he was in a... _**cage?! **_That's why he couldn't turn properly! _Can things get any more bizarre than that?_

_Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god, I'm trapped! What do I do?_ Danny asked himself in panic when the realization hit him. _Duh. Ghost powers._

Danny mentally slapped himself as to why he even panicked in the first place as he turned intangible. But when he tried phasing out of the glowing bars, they pushed back and he was thrown back on the floor.

_Okay, __**now**_ _it's time to panic,_ Danny said to himself as he groaned and covered his face. But he immediately took his hands off when he realized what he covered his face with.

_Oh wait, I'm bleeding!_ The boy's eyes widened in fear as he used the right hand to cover his left arm so that it would prevent itself from bleeding. He didn't know how long it was left exposed for, but he could've got an infection if he left it out for even a minute!

The boy sighed, realizing his situation. He wasn't locked in **any** cage. But in his parent's lab! Even being with Vlad while he expressed his Packer's obsession seemed more pleasing than this. And that said a lot.

"Okay, so it can't be that bad. Maybe I'm dreaming. Yes! It **has** to be! This has to be a horrible nightmare and I'll wake up any second now," Danny exclaimed to himself as he shut his eyes tightly and waited for himself to wake up in his warm bed, with the sun hitting from his window and the wind rustling in.

"I can assure you, you're _not_ dreaming," a familiar female said as Danny opened his eyes in surprise and turned to face his mother, who had her arms crossed in a questioning manner. His father was also present, but he seemed busy with... stuff.

"Jack, can you eat later?" Maddie asked with an exasperated look as her husband finished the last piece of fudge with a smile on his face.

"Okay, I'm done!" he quickly said with his mouth full of fudge. Danny chuckled quietly but forgot he had an audience.

"So ghosts can laugh too? You see this Jack? He finds it funny! How is this possible?" Maddie exclaimed as she walked closer and inspected him like he was an organism under a microscope.

"You know it's rude to stare," Danny fired hotly, feeling uncomfortable by the way his parents were looking at him. Were they planning on tearing him apart? Dissecting him? Danny shivered by the countless possibilities. _Why is he making himself even more worried anyway?_

"Hmm, and he speaks like any other human with quit a sarcastic tone. Reminds me of teenagers nowadays," Jack said as he shrugged and turned to Maddie who still had her eyes on the boy.

"Say, what are you?" she asked genuinely as Danny shot her a confused look. _Were they crazy now? What made them question him that- _

He turned to where his mother was looking at. His injured arm. _Of course. _They must've noticed he was bleeding and realized ghosts don't have blood in their bodies.

"A ghost?" he replied, playing dumb. There was no way he was revealing anything to them! He didn't want to be caged down here forever!

"That doesn't enter my brain. Let me ask again, who are you? Like, we're _sure_ you're not just an ordinary ghost," she said as she pulled a chair and sat in front of the worried boy.

"Like I would tell you," Danny shot back with a glare, deciding there was no point in pretending he didn't know what they were talking about.

"Well, I'm afraid you don't have a choice. Either you tell us or we'll have to use other... forceful ways," she said as the boy's eyes widened, knowing what she was referring to. The examination table was only a few feet away.

"You can't force me there. As soon as you open the cage, I'll be long gone," he said confidently but raised a confused eyebrow at his mother's unfazed look.

"We can just use the same gadget we used on you last night. It would save us the trouble of having to force you to talk," she said as Jack grinned.

"I call it, the Fenton Sleeping Dart! Instead of sleeping pill, I changed it to sleeping dart. Clever huh?" the man exclaimed as Danny mentally rolled his eyes. But he was now nervous. Now, he'll have to answer their every question. But that didn't mean they knew who he was exactly, right?

With a defeated sigh, the boy nodded.

"Fine, on two conditions. I tell you what you want to hear, but you don't inform a _single_ soul of what you heard _and_ you let me out," he said as the two nodded. They didn't really need him after he told them everything so the conditions weren't too bad.

"Deal," Maddie said as she held her arm between the bars and Danny shook hers, surprised at how she didn't seem too worried that he could hurt her.

"Now, so that we know you're telling the truth," the ghosthunter trailed off as she got up from her seat and brought a metal box with a black screen in the front and a fingerprint scanner. "We'll be using this. A lie detector."

_How come am I unaware of this?_ Danny thought to himself. It could've helped him in many situations, especially in school!

He then groaned. _What crud luck!_

The boy did what was ordered from the two ghost hunters. The box was placed in front of him, and Danny placed his left ring finger (since his right hand was covered in blood).

"Now, first question. What are you?" she asked again as Danny rolled his eyes. He doubted the machine really worked so with a confident voice, he answered the question.

"Half ghost, half vampire,' he answered dryly and almost immediately, felt a light zap course through his body. "Uh, what's that?"

"You're lying, try again,"Maddie said unimpressed. Even if the machine wasn't present, did the boy really think he could fool her like that?

The boy cursed mentally. _Of course it had to work properly._ He sighed again and realized there was no point in hiding it, they were going to find out anyway.

"Half ghost and... half human," he answered truthfully as he waited for the zap, but it never came.

"So my suspicions were correct," she whispered, her eyes wide as she looked at her husband. He was also shocked with the piece of information.

"Mads! We can now get charged with abuse!" he exclaimed as Maddie quickly hushed him and turned to the thoughtful boy.

"So, how old are you exactly?" she asked, simply because she was curious.

"Fourteen, almost turning fifteen," he replied and again, the machine worked. The questions went on like that, and Maddie and Jack found themselves enjoying the ghost's company. He had interesting ambitions, and turned out to be a smart and determined teenage boy. They also learned how he can 'go ghost', the ghost powers he had, and what he used them for. He also ended up telling them how he turned to a ghost in the first place. He laughed when they thought he had a parent who was a ghost and another one a human. But then, their looks were replaced by worry when he explained how he got electrocuted by getting into a lab accident. He quickly changed the topic to prevent them from asking anymore questions.

"Say, do you go to school?" she asked curiously as the boy answered with a 'yes'. "Which one?"

At this, Danny was hesitant to reply, and Maddie noticed it too. _Was it wise to tell two ghosthunters where he attended school?_ He then sighed, deciding it wasn't too dangerous.

"Casper High," he finally said as the woman and her husband gasped.

"That's the same school both my children go to!" she exclaimed as Danny grinned, coming up with an idea.

"You're children's names are called Danny and Jazz, right?" he asked as the two parents nodded, shocked. "I must say, they are delightful kids! Especially Danny. He's such a good boy, very smart and liked by everyone in the school. Mr. Lancer absolutely _adores_ him. You should totally buy him the new video game he saw last week, he deserves it."

They stared quizzically at the boy, now confused. This ghost and their kid must seemed close, and that's what worried them.

"Okay..." Maddie trailed off. "But I have one last question for you," she said as Danny sighed.

_Yes, finally! That's it! All I have to do is answer this question and I'm out of here,_ Danny thought excitedly to himself. He was so glad he would finally be able to get out of the cage.

"First off, we'd like to say sorry for hurting you too many times. It must be hard to be a teenager and manage these ghost powers while we're behind your back," Jack sincerely said as he smiled. "Please take this fudge as an apology."

Maddie rolled her eyes but nodded. "What he said. We hope one day you'll forgive us and maybe even visit us someday."

The boy was stunned by their apologies. They looked so sincere and serious when they were talking. And their words- No! This **must** all be a trick! They could be fooling him. They've always hated ghosts and won't hesitate to dissect him.

But why didn't they do it right now? What do they get by tricking him? They have him right now, trapped. And the way they looked at him had been like they truly meant it. Even his father, who always joked in serious situations.

The boy sighed, really just wanting to get out of here. This cage was surely driving him crazy. He'll think about what they said later, when he's finally free and can get his arm treated before it gets infected.

Maddie noticed the half-ghost wincing when he touched his arm and she looked at him with a sober expression.

"Do... do you want me to treat that?" she asked hesitantly, unsure whether the boy would accept her offer. Danny meanwhile looked at her baffled.

For a minute, he didn't believe that it was his mother, a ghost hunter, speaking to him. She sounded so... caring. Not that she didn't care for him, but he was in his ghost form right now. In her eyes, he was something she had despised for a long time. _**A menace**_. So why did she offer to help him? What did she get from doing this?

"N-no thanks. I'll get it cleaned later," he stuttered as Maddie shook her head and got up. Danny's eyes curiously followed her, wondering what she was going to do now. He watched as his parents started whispering about something, and despite his good hearing senses, he still couldn't hear them. Finally, after what seemed like an hour, the two returned holding a first aid kit.

Apparently, the cage was only ghost proof which explained why it glowed bright green. So it was easy for Jack to phase through it, like how a ghost would phase into walls in the human . Danny looked at him with an uneasy expression while the man unlocked the kit.

"Look. I don't like you spooks. But I heard from Danny's friends that one time that you saved my son from a ghost attack. And since you're friends with my son and seem to know almost everything about him, I'll help you," Jack said as Danny raised an eyebrow. That was certainly unexpected.

"But just so we can make sure that what you're saying is true, answer this one question," Maddie said. "Why does Danny dislike Christmas?"

That had to be the easiest question known to mankind. Who _didn't _know themselves anyway?

"Because you and da- I mean, Jack, wouldn't stop fighting over whether Santa is real or fake. And something always turns out bad on that day," he answered simply as both parents looked at each other, now confirming that this boy really did know their son.

"Very well. Jack, just treat his cut. It shouldn't be too hard as it doesn't appear to be deep," Maddie finally said as Jack nodded and began cleaning his injury.

Danny hissed when the rubbing alcohol came in contact with his skin. Jack noticed this and made sure to apply less pressure to it. He still found it bizarre how ghosts got hurt but now that they know he's also a human, it made sense.

After cleaning the cut and bandaging it, the man closed the kit and smiled. "Good as new!"

"Thanks," Danny quietly said, looking down. He still found it weird how they acted when he was in his ghost form. But before he can question it, he started to feel dizzy, and he knew why. He had been in his ghost form for too long, and his body was starting to get weak. He felt his two rings threatening to switch him back to his human half, but he couldn't. He forced himself to pay attention to get out of here as soon as possible

"Now for the final question..." Maddie continued as Danny nodded, eager to answer the final question. He was beginning to feel even worse. Shouldn't he feel better now? He just got his cut cleaned up and bandaged. "Who are you?"

Danny was taken aback by the question. What did she mean by that? He remembered telling her he was half human and half ghost, from the beginning. So why was she asking again?

Maddie noticed the boy's confused look and decided to explain further.

"I meant, we don't know who you are. What's your name? How do you look? Can we see you transform to your human half?" she questioned as Danny got uncomfortable.

"U-uh I believe t-that's three questions," he stuttered as nervous beads of sweat began to drip from his forehead. He willed his ice powers to cool him down while paying attention to what she said again.

"Then tell us your name. We already promised we wouldn't tell anyone," Maddie continued, even more desperate to hear his response. She didn't know why the boy was so nervous. Of course, anyone his position wouldn't feel uncomfortable revealing who they are, but this boy looked like he was on the verge of fainting. His face had turned five shades paler, and he was beginning to sweat, scratching his hair every now and then.

"I-I can't," the boy answered nervously as Jack sighed.

"Look ghostboy. We know this is hard for you, but we need to know who you are. Plus, this could benefit you too. We now know where you get our tools, from Danny, and we can now offer you even more. You're now a ghost hunter, and a unique one at that," the man grinned as Danny crossed his arms.

"My n-name is... Bill," he answered and almost immediately, he felt a small zap. The two ghosthunters sighed, now worried and confused. Why wouldn't he tell them?

However, Danny was unaware that this zap also caused his body to get weaker. It wasn't because the machine was designed to weaken him, but because his body couldn't handle much more pressure. He needed to rest, **NOW**. Or else, he could risk revealing his secret. But then, what else could he answer with? It was clear that his parents weren't going to let him leave until he answered their question.

"My name is Danny," he finally answered as Maddie smiled.

"So you have the same name as our son. Isn't that cool?" she turned to Jack as he nodded. "That's great Mads! Now we have two Danny's! What's your last name?"

"Danny... D-Danny Fenton," the boy answered out of breath. He really needed to give in. He tried forcing his ghost half to remain, but he was too weak. He had to transform into his human half.

"D-Danny?" his mother stuttered, her eyes glossed with tears. His dad was also shocked and when they didn't hear the zap, they knew it was true.

"B-but that's impossible! How..." Jack exclaimed but was soon labelled wrong when the boy finally transformed to his human half. They watched their son, lay on the floor, half-conscious.

"J-Jack! Close the ghost shield," she demanded as her husband quickly obliged. As soon as the glowing bars disappeared, Maddie quickly raced in and picked up her son who was heaving gently.

"O-oh Danny," she choked as she pulled her son close to her, her knees on the floor. Jack soon joined her, all three of them silently weeping.

"M-mom, dad," Danny whispered hoping that this wasn't true. So did they know his secret now? Was this it?

"Oh, I'm so sorry sweetie!" his mom exclaimed as Danny sighed in relief. He hugged both his parents tight, happy that they weren't mad. Or at least, mad that he wasn't a ghost.

Finally, after what seemed like an hour, Danny pulled away, smiling. "So what're we going to tell Jazz?"

"Oh, I have an idea. But before that, let's get you to bed," Jack said with a grin as both Maddie and Danny raised an eyebrow. What idea did he have this time?

* * *

Jazz was happy to return finally home. Sure studying with her friends was fun (at least to her), but she missed her parents and little brother. And she wanted to know what Danny had been dealing with this weekend. A new different ghost to add to her collection maybe?

However, her eyes were open like saucers and her jaw almost dropped to the ground when she was met by the scene as soon as she entered the living room.

There sat her brother, in his ghost form, with both their parents cuddling him as they watched a movie. Jazz rubbed her eyes, thinking she was hallucinating.

_Maybe drinking too much coffee hadn't been a good idea,_ she thought to herself as she reopened her eyes, but nothing changed.

Danny was the first to notice her, and he gave a sly grin, as if there was nothing out of the normal happening.

"Oh hey Jazz! Didn't notice you there, heh. There's leftover steak if you're hungry, right dad?" he said as he turned to look at Jack who was also wearing a grin.

"Of course, son. Join us after, alright Jazz?" he said to his daughter as Jazz continued to gape at them.

"I- What- How- Okay, **WHAT,**" she exclaimed, now lost. The three laughed at the girl's behavior.

"I'll explain later. Now eat something before you pass out," Danny teased.

* * *

**Word Count: 6 156**


	11. Chapter Eight: Micro-Management

**A/N: I had to re-watch that episode so that I make sure everything makes sense. Edit: I had to re-watch the whole show to check if I'm still in character. Anyway, thanks for all the nice comments, it really does make my day! And if you have any ideas of possible reveals that you would like to see, I'd gladly make a chapter for it :) ****And I know some are looking forward to the 'Reality Trip' aftermath. *wink,wink***

**Oh and I'm sorry again for the late update. I just started tenth grade, and they suddenly decide to give us homework on the first day. Good thing I'm not bad at math! (Edit: I'm terrible actually.)**

**(Warning: Until I specify, the first part is completely from the show and I only added a bit of detail and description to make it more interesting. I'll add a point to where my writing starts.)**

* * *

"How many costume changes are you going to go through? What is this, Vegas?" the blonde jock asked with a raised eyebrow. He didn't know why the ghostboy kept on changing his outfit. First it was his shoes, then his pants, and now it's his t-shirt? He was sensing something very strange about the hybrid's behavior, but he just couldn't figure out what.

Before the other boy could reply, Skulker flew right in front of them, aiming his weapon at the two teenage boys. He wore an angry and determined expression and instantly blasted the two rockets. Fortunately, the two boys quickly moved out of the way, and the rockets made their way down the stairs.

Dash and Danny quickly climbed up the stairs in their tiny forms, not caring anymore about how exhausted they were. It was either run, or be hunted. Neither seemed fond of being hunted by Skulker and hung on his wall.

The ghosthunter turned around in surprise but quickly regained his position and began firing more rocket shots at the boys. The two quickly ran into a room and using all the strength they had left, pushed the door close. Skulker tried to enter but it was too late and the door was already locked. He also knew he couldn't use his ghost abilities to phase through it so he decided to come up with a better way.

"Very well!" The ghost hunter said as he flew down the stairs and outside, deciding to attack from the other side. He didn't know that there was also a red-eyed rat watching from behind...

Meanwhile, the two teens ran into the room and onto the window steel.

"Hurry! Out the window and onto the OP center," Danny quickly said as he nervously looked behind him, searching for any signs of Skulker. Dash obeyed and started climbing the rope attached to the top. Danny was about to go right after him but looked around, something not feeling right.

"Skulker's not coming after us..." he said and then immediately frowned. "Unless he's coming around from the back!"

Just as he said that, Skulker zoomed right around the house, getting closer. The half-ghost thought quickly and looked around the room, something to distract the enemy. His eyes fell on a bag of opened chips and grinned. He started to pull the heavy bag until he reached the edge of the window.

"Hey Skulker!" The boy yelled with a slight giggle. "Still think your abilities beat mine?"

When he was close enough, the teenage boy pushed the bag, the chips falling onto the ground and onto Skulker. The ghost predator stopped in alarm but was too late. They had already made their way on him and were crashing onto his equipment, no longer having control of his metallic wings.

"Lime and vinegar? Who eats those?!" the ghosthunter exclaimed, cringing at the smell. Quickly, he launched his rockets but all they did was break the chips into smaller pieces, still affecting his sight. "Oh, for crying out loud!"

His eyes widened as the empty bag dropped on him, leaving him no time to run. The bag went straight onto him and with no control, he crashed to the ground. But then, he quickly used his arm to slash through the paper bag, yelling with anger.

Danny took this as a chance to climb the rope right after Dash but realized things weren't that easy. He looked down on the ground where Skulker was located and gave a worried look to Dash.

"We don't have much time!" the ghost exclaimed as he began moving his legs so that the rope swung closer to the top window and jumped, landing safely. The other teenage boy copied the same thing, but as he landed, his feet lost control and was about to fall backwards to the ground.

"I got you!" Danny cried out as he struggled to get him up but maintained position. "1...2...3!"

Fortunately, the ghost boy quickly grabbed his hand and pulled him up, the jock stumbling inside. However, at that exact moment, a part of his hair from behind reverted to it's original raven colour.

"Oh man, I'm one makeover away from revealing my secret identity. Good thing Dash is a total moron," he quietly murmured to himself as the two boys quickly quickly ran to the window and struggling, pushed it up. They knew that Skulker would be here any minute!

"We did it! What do you think we just fetched, proportionally?" Dash asked, beads of sweat rolling down his forehead to his cheek.

"I don't know dude, I'm not that good at math," Danny said with a raised eyebrow as Skulker quickly flew from behind.

"Soon, you won't be good at breathing either!" the ghost said but before he could say anything else, the rat jumped from inside the room and onto Skulker's arm. "Agh! Get off of me!"

The two took this as a chance and ran inside, spotting the tool that turned them minuscule.

"That's got to be the device," Danny said knowingly.

"And that's how we're going to get to it," Dash said as he pointed to the pizza with cheese stretching all the way to the ground. The two ran down to the floor but before they can get to it, they heard a loud crash from the window.

"Thank you for opening the window for me," the ghost hunter smirked as he pointed his gun towards the rat. "Your services are no longer needed."

He blasted his weapon on the rat which glued him to the wall and then ran over to where the two boys were climbing. "You'll never be able to climb faster than me!"

The ghost laughed as he started climbing right after them, wearing an evil and determined look.

Danny climbed faster and finally reached the top, but as soon as he did that, he reverted back to his original form, the only ghostly thing left his green eyes. He touched his face and realized in horror that his identity might be revealed if he stayed any longer so he quickly ran inside the weapon hole.

Dash climbed after him and was met with no one on the other side. "Hey! Where'd you go?"

"I'm here," Danny said with panic in his voice, waving his hand from inside the device. "I need you to pull the trigger, **quick!**"

"You okay in there?" Dash asked as he surveyed the weapon, getting closer...

"Just, flip it to un-cram and push the trigger!" Danny yelled, shooting his famous green eye glare as the blonde jock quickly backed up and ran to the top of the weapon. Meanwhile, Danny noticed that he had completely reverted to his human form and Skulker started nearing him.

"You can't escape me, I'm faster than you!" the predator yelled as Dash tried to flip the switch.

"I'm stronger than you!" he said again, nearing the halfa as Danny stared sideways with wide eyes. He didn't know how much longer he was going to stay like this!

"And you're weak! Weak!" he yelled but then noticed that Dash was trying to help his acquaintance and realized that if he didn't stop him, the ghostboy will turn back to normal.

**(In the original episode, Dash manages to flip the switch and Danny turns to his ghost form. However, here is where the revelation fanfiction starts. *cracks knuckles* Let the drama begin! *smirks*) (Btw I'm writing this with a fever so things might sound stupid and hazy, however I'll be editing it.)**

Skulker rushed over to the blond teenage boy before grabbing him from the collar of his shirt. He raised the boy up and placed the glowing knife close to his neck as Dash struggled to get the hand off of him. But it was difficult with the knife touching so close to his neck. One more move, and his head will no longer be connected to his body.

"Come out whelp, if you want to see your friend alive for the last time!" Skulker growled as Danny breathed in and out, panicking on the inside.

He was at a difficult situation right now. He had no weapon, no ghost powers, and not even something to cover himself with. Dash now couldn't push the switch on because he was being threatened and therefore he had no powers to stop him. So this is what his friends meant by using his natural abilities!

"Leave him out of this, Skulker! You want my head, don't you?" Danny finally said in a calm tone, gulping back his fear. He had to stall his enemy so that he can have time to think for a solution. Danny quietly walked closer to the outer part of the weapon while making sure the two people outside didn't see him.

Now that things are more clearer, his eyes began to observe the room, analyzing the objects and trying to find what could help him and what might prove useful.

"I do! But having your friend's head will serve alright if you don't come out now!" Skulker yelled out as Danny winced but remained focused on his surroundings. His eyes then perked open when he recognized something nearby.

"Aw come on, Skulker. Can't we like... sort things out? Why does it always have to be violence? Didn't your parents ever tell you violence is never the answer?" the boy stalled, tip-toeing to the cup of weird liquid nearby.

"You know what, you're right ghostkid. Let's play hide and seek, what do you say about that?" the predator grinned as Danny flinched but continued to walk quietly to his objective.

"I was thinking of something less active. What about a nice game of Uno?" the half-ghost suggested as Dash rolled his eyes but didn't comment, in fear of saying something that might anger the ghosthunter.

"I'd prefer something with more running and less talking. So what do you say ghostboy? Care to play?" Skulker asked with a predatory smirk.

"Actually, no-"

"Too bad, you were the one to suggest we do something less _'violent'._ So I'll start and count to ten," he interrupted, not giving Danny time to object. This was **not** something he had in mind, but it will do until he retrieved what he was looking for.

His identity was the least of importance, at least for now. He was about to get hunted like a mouse if he didn't get something to protect himself and Dash with. Without his ghost powers, he was basically exposed to all dangers. And that's excluding the dangerous lab he was currently standing in.

"1..." the ghosthunter counted as he took one step, dragging the blond jock with him. Dash stumbled beside him, afraid the knife will cut him. Danny took this as a signal to walk faster and quieter to the cup.

"2..." Danny reached the cup and grabbed the syringe but before throwing it in the cup, he picked up a metal nut and threw it on the opposite direction. The noise echoed through the lab and Danny quickly pushed the syringe in the cup, sucking the liquid inside of it.

**"3..!"** The voice growled, kicking an empty box out of the way but was dissatisfied to find no one there. Danny grinned but wasted no time in taking out the syringe from the cup and carefully placing it on the table.

"You know what Skulker? You're pretty bad at this game, not to mention you don't know the rules either! You're supposed to count to ten and **then** look for me. Maybe I'll teach you how to play it right next time," the half-ghost joked.

"There will be **no** next time after I catch get your friend's head and then, yours!" the predator yelled out, pushing the knife closer to Dash's neck as his eyes grew wide.

"Phantom! Help me please! I don't know how much longer I can handle this, I need my head to play football again," the boy screamed, about to lose his mind as well with his head.

"4," the ghost growled in satisfaction as Danny glared from behind the huge weapon, inching closer from behind them. If maybe he can shoot him... but no, he'll just risk Dash's life. If he wants to get rid of Skulker, he'll have to first get Dash out of his grasp and then turn ghost. Preferably by using the weapon to turn them back to their normal size.

"5..." Skulker spoke out, pushing a metal nut from the way and looking from the other side. Meanwhile, Danny was adjusting his 'weapon' by placing it nearby but not too close to him. If Skulker suspected that he was going to blast him, it wouldn't end well for either of them.

"6..." the ghost counted as Danny quickly and quietly pulled a strand of running cheese and tied it to his leg and the needle.

"7... You know ghostboy, you're right. This game isn't right for me, we should've played tag instead. Except it would **my** type of tag," the ghosthunter said with a smirk as Danny rolled his eyes but stayed put, not moving from his spot.

"Something tells me it wouldn't be as fun as you make it sound," the half-ghost sarcastically said as Dash gulped, shivering slightly.

"You guessed right whelp. Now, it's 8..." he said as Danny frowned, mentally preparing himself for what was going to happen next. This was not how fitness practice was supposed to go. Maybe wishing fighting with Skulker rather than practicing for the fitness test during school wasn't such a great idea after all. And he didn't even have Sam nor Tucker to assist him.

"9... Come out, come out, wherever you are..." Skulker hummed dangerously.

"Actually, you were supposed to say that _after_ you finish counting," Danny answered in a matter of factually voice.

"Whatever. It's 10 now whelp, you better have a good hiding spot," Skulker growled as Danny gulped but decided to finally face him. If he continued to hide, he would achieve nothing except for increased anxiety.

_It was now or never._ Danny stepped out, facing the two from behind.

"I'm right here, Skulker. Now let go of Dash," he said as the two turned around.

"Phantom! I-" Dash immediately stopped talking and his eyes froze in shock and disbelief. **"F-Fenton?!"**

Meanwhile, Skulker paid no attention to the stuttering boy and instead paid attention to his prey, smirking.

"Well, well, well. Look what the cat dragged in. Or should I say, half-ghost?" Skulker exclaimed as he blasted his weapon but Danny had already suspected his action and quickly moved out of the way.

"Really, Skulker? This is all you have to say. Pity. You really can't tell good jokes," Danny snickered, wearing a grin as he quickly dodged another shot, the needle, following close behind...

However, Skulker didn't ask nor pay any mind to the 'weapon' tied to the halfghost's ankle and instead began firing more and more shots.

"Hey, hey! I didn't mean to get you mad. **Agh-** Look, can we talk first?" Danny asked irritated as he barely rolled over another shot, a slight burn appearing on his stomach. At the same time, Dash just stood there, shocked that his hero was the boy he was bullied in school. He didn't even realize that the ghost's hold on him has deceased and it would be a perfect time to run...

"Fenton.. you're-you're Phantom? B-but how? And why did you hide it?" Dash stuttered out after not having spoken for at least two minutes now.

"So the kid doesn't know. Figures," Skulker said as he stopped for a moment but blasted another shot at Danny.

"WILL YOU JUST STOP BLASTING ME FOR ONE MINUTE?" Danny screamed, fed up with all the commotion and now starting panic by Dash's reaction. But surprisingly, that was not what worried him.

The predator blinked in surprise, but slowly lowered his weapon, glaring at the halfghost. _"Speak."_

"Thank you. Now, before you blast me off to space and hang my head on your wall, which by the way is not cool man, you have to listen to what I say first," Danny compromised as Skulker listened and Dash's widened further, not having seen Danny act like this before.

"Go on," he said, however he didn't let his guard down and remained holding tightly onto the ghostly weapon.

"Okay, good. Now, here's the deal. **Let go of Dash,**" Danny demanded as Skulker glared.

"And why would I do such a thing?"

"Because you have me. Isn't that what you wanted from the first place? Or am I wrong?" Danny asked, raising an eyebrow teasingly.

"Of course, but two heads are better than one, isn't it?" Skulker smirked as both teens frowned and internally gulped nervously.

"That's not how it works. You won't be able to get my head if you have his, I'll just hide for eternity and you'll waste your time," Danny concluded. "Trust me Skulker, you'll lose me."

"I can't just threaten your friend's life and you'll come out of your hole," Skulker said with a frown.

"Think twice, pal. It's two against one. Even with both of us humans, we can still defeat you. So why struggle when you can have me on a fresh plate without moving a muscle. The price is small," Danny grinned as he did cartwheel and came closer. "Come on, Skulky. You know you want to."

The predator glared but knew the boy was right. He can just capture the boy right now with no struggle since his ghost powers aren't working. And all he has to do is release the boy. It was that simple.

"Okay, you've convinced me whelp. But don't think I'll fall for whatever trick you have planned so you better drop it or I won't hesitate to cage both of you and feed you to the wolves," he warned as Dash gulped but soon sighed in relief when he felt the blade of the knife slowly retract.

"No tricks, Skulker. I can't do anything anyway, I don't have my ghost powers," Danny said in a serious tone as the predator nodded and released the boy, letting him scamper. But before the half-ghost could say anything, something already made itself to his body and stuck him on the wall. Danny groaned from the pain on his side and struggled to get if off him. Beside him, the rat also struggled to get the substance off.

_Great, I'm dying again,_ Danny sarcastically thought to himself as Skulker cackled, walking near the boy.

"You think I was going to let you escape like that? It seems that you're not so smart either," he said with a smirk as the boy glared but then noticed Dash behind the predator, holding a piece of wood. Danny quickly shook his head, a soft 'no!' escaping his mouth as Dash stopped. Luckily, Skulker didn't notice as he was too busy admiring his work.

"You know what ghostboy? I love seeing you struggle, but don't bother wasting your energy. I've updated my weapons and now they are 10x stronger. Maybe you should learn to rely on your natural abilities," Skulker snickered, using the boy's own words against him.

_Will you just cut it out!_ Danny screamed mentally but didn't want to give his enemy the satisfaction of seeing him in distress.

"You know, Skulker? That's one of the most villainous words I hear all the time. Maybe you should think of something more original," Danny snickered as he realized that Dash was now close to the needle attached to his ankle and he used this chance to wiggle his left leg more with the last amount of energy he had left.

"You shouldn't be making jokes right now, whelp. I'm not the one stuck to a wall currently," Skulker growled as Dash finally noticed the syringe moving near him and caught up what the half-ghost was trying to communicate. Danny motioned with his eyes to use the object as a weapon. Dash nodded and picked it up, directing it at the back of the enemy's head.

"You know me Skulker. I love to joke in _sticky_ situations,"Danny growled but before Skulker could reply to his comment, he suddenly got blasted by a gel-like green substance.

"**Agh**! _What is this?!_" the predator cried out as Dash quickly cut off the gooey ectoplasm from Danny using the sharp side of the wood.

"Just some experiment that my parents were gonna use. It's like ectoplasm, except _hot _instead of cold," he said with a grin, as Dash finally freed him from the wall and the two ran to the weapon close by.

"Ow, get this off me! It's burning my tools!" Skulker yelled out as Danny got inside the weapon hole and gave a thumbs up to Dash. The boy nodded and went out and up the machine to the switch open.

"Maybe you should rely more on your natural abilities!" Danny yelled with a smirk as Skulker growled and pulled off the substance using the claws connected to his hands. Dash quickly hurried up and pushed the switch using the power he had left while Danny nervously waited inside.

"Just wait till I get my hands on you-" before Skulker could say anything else, the switch moved to the other side and the light blinded the trio. Before Danny knew, he was back to his normal size and in ghost mode. Dash stared shocked, still not believing who he was looking at while Skulker growled in frustration.

"Now, why don't we let you chill for a bit. Your face is really red," the ghost boy said with a grin as he picked up the tiny ghosthunter and flicked him to the freezer fridge. He shut the door right after and walked back to the weapon, motioning Dash to get inside so that he can turn back to his normal size too.

Danny turned the switch on and Dash started growing bigger and bigger until he reached his average height. The jock grinned, looking at his arms and turning behind to examine himself.

"Yes! I'm not pewny anymore!" the blond jock exclaimed as Danny lightly chuckled.

"Yeah, but we better leave now," Danny said as he looked out the window, noticing his friends were now outside in the backyard, and for some reason, Tucker's hands were wrapped in a bandage? He ignored it and planned to question him after he dealt with the other problem he needed to address.

"But oh my god! You're Danny Phantom! That's so cool, oh my gosh, I never knew! I should've realized the signs later but I guess I was too busy trying to stay alive ha!" Dash exclaimed with a grin as exited the door and Danny followed behind, transforming back to his human self.

"And you were so cool back there, I never got to say thanks! " Dash said as he turned back and Danny smiled.

"Thanks to you too. I couldn't have made it alone, you're a good fitness buddy," Danny said with a toothy grin, however Dash's expression quickly changed to a look of guiltiness.

"I must've made your life tougher than it really is, huh?" Dash murmured, interrupting Danny from saying something afterwards. "I really am sorry, I guess I shouldn't judge people for who they are, they may turn out to be a superhero."

"Heh, maybe. But I didn't really give you a reason to like me either," Danny joked as Dash's face lightened up again and he grinned, running downstairs with the half-ghost chasing after him.

"But I still can't believe it! Just wait till people hear about this and our adventure together. It's gonna be sick-"

"Hey, hey! Wait, don't go. Stop!" Danny yelled out, chasing after him as Dash stopped, both of them now standing in the kitchen, the door to the backyard beside them. "You can't tell _anyone _about this! Maybe the adventure, but definitely **not** my secret identity!"

"Huh? Why not? Don't you know how popular you'll get once people find out about this? You'll be a rock-star! Hey, you should totally join us! I know Paulina would love it," Dash exclaimed, going back to fangirling as Danny raised an eyebrow in panic.

"No, no, please Dash, don't do it! I've been keeping my secret identity for so long, only Sam and Tucker know I-I you... just please. Don't do it," Danny pleaded as Dash looked at him surprised but hesitantly nodded.

"O-okay, I won't, trust me. But why though?" he asked, eager to understand why his hero didn't want his identity to be revealed.

"I'll be putting everybody's life in danger if I did. See what happened today? Who knows what else could have happened if I didn't have the needle with me. I have lots of enemies Dash, it would put too many people at risk. And what about maintaining a low profile? I want to be able to protect the city without being strangled every minute. I want to have a private life, like any normal teenage boy," Danny explained as he sighed.

"I understand. I mean, I get what you didn't tell anybody your secret other than your two friends," Dash said as he nodded with a smile. "But that doesn't mean I can't help. I'll make sure nobody bullies you or gets near you. You can trust me on that."

"Thanks Dash. I really do appreciate that," Danny said with a soft smile, sighing in relief.

"But I can always tell them if you want-"

"Thanks for the tempting offer, but I'll pass," Danny sarcastically said with a roll of his eyes as Dash laughed and opened the back door.

"Haha, I get it. Anyways, I'll leave now... today was something else and I'm pretty exhausted," Dash said as he cracked his back. "See you at school tomorrow."

"See ya!" Danny said back with a smile as the jock left and his two friends entered at the same time, looking at them strangely.

"Um, what just happened when we were going? " Tucker asked as Danny looked over at his friend's bandaged hands.

"I could say the same," Danny said, raising an eyebrow as Tucker blushed in embarrassment and Sam chuckled.

"Birds don't like him very much," she said as Danny looked at them strangely but before he can question what happened, Dash unexpectedly walked right in.

"Hey Danny! I'm pretty sure you'll ace that fitness test," Dash said with a wink as he left right after and the two friends looked at Danny in bewilderment.

"Did Dash just call you by your first name?" Tucker asked.

"Did he just compliment you?" Sam asked, also wearing a shocked expression.

"It's, um, a very long story," Danny said as he rubbed his neck.

"We have time," Sam replied as she walked over to the dining table and sat down, patting the seat next to her. "Come on, sit."

* * *

**A/N: Okay, so I'm gonna have even less time to update because I also take language school every Sunday and they give a LOT of homework. Sorry again for the inconvenience! (I feel like I said sorry a lot these past chapters damn.)**

**Word Count: 4 878**


	12. Chapter Nine: Post-Reality Trip

**A/N: Hey guys! I know I haven't been online for a long time, and I still didn't update my other fanfic I've been working on for months, sorry! Things have been pretty hectic these past few weeks due to the virus but thankfully, I'm well and so is my family :) I hope you guys are doing great too and I recommend you guys continue to stay home and eat healthy to boost your immune system!**

**It can be stressful staying at home for too long. I, personally, don't go out a lot because I spend time with my friends during lunch breaks :') And my dad hates restaurants and food from outside so we usually eat at home. But for those who aren't used to staying home for so long, stay strong! I know it can be difficult but your safety is a top priority and until doctors find the cure, take care of yourselves. **

**By the way, I just started online schooling this Monday and it's not bad actually.**

**I also have a surprise (as said in the title). New chapter! I know I said I won't be updating this book, but I just had this nagging feeling to add one more chapter to this book. Plus, hopefully, this could make you guys feel better in such a stressful month :') Again, I was never planning to continue this book but this unproductivity was annoying to no end!**

**Without further ado, I present to you, Reality Trip Aftermath! (Fun fact, this episode is one of my favourites ;)**

**Summary:** After Danny saves his parents and his friends' parents by Freak-show, he's greeted by love and worry. He decides to not erase their memory and destroys the gauntlet. After all, he can deal with the GIW as they aren't much of a threat. How will everybody treat him now?

**Name of Chapter:** Post-Reality Trip Reveal

**Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom.**

* * *

Danny rose up and wore the gauntlet, raising his hand up. The device did its job and changed the world back to its original state, removing unnecessary damage.

He sighed of relief and slowly descended on the ground, changing back to his human half and smiling when he saw everything go back to normal. The sun was shining again, flowers blooming and the buildings back to their usual state. Freakshow really was creative when it came to decorating the entire planet in a Carnaval theme!

_'Well, that takes care of it,' _Danny said to himself in glee, completely forgetting that there was one more problem that needed to be fixed.

"Danny!" he heard his father yell from behind as he internally cringed, forgetting that his parents were still there. Oh, how was he supposed to explain to them now?

"Young man," he turned around and internally gulped when he saw both of his parents approaching him, wearing unimpressed expressions. Danny knew he would have to confront them sooner or later but he really hoped for the latter. He was exhausted from the trip and he knew his friends were too. He hadn't gotten proper sleep for days and he was about to collapse. Especially after Freakshow had thrown him not minutes ago. His whole body was aching!

"I'm... I'm sorry," Danny finally said, letting out a sigh as he prepared to receive a long lecture. Or maybe a ghost net thrown at him! He wasn't even sure if his parents accepted him yet, and after this whole trip incident, he knew that it must've made things worse.

But Danny was not expecting what happened next. His father engulfed him in a tight hug, almost crushing him as he struggled to breathe. He didn't think his ribs would last another minute! But despite the discomfort, the emotion swirling in his eyes was disbelief. Why was he hugging him? Weren't the mad? Weren't they going to dissect him now?

His father finally let go of him and with a large smile, beamed at the confused boy in front of him. "We're very proud of you, son."

But before the hybrid could respond to his father's surprising and sincere words, he was attacked by another hug, one less tight than before.

"Oh, my baby boy!" his mother exclaimed in happiness as she kissed her son's cheeks repeatedly. She was so relieved to see her boy alive and well with no major injuries. She thought that she'd almost lost him after he'd been run over by the rollercoaster!

As for Danny, he didn't know what to do or say so he just waited until they were finished to find out what was going on. Although he was smiling at the affection his parents were giving him, he still wasn't sure why they weren't mad like they were supposed to be. This wasn't what he expected, at all.

Danny pulled away from both of them and hesitantly turned to face them with guilt plastered on his face. And even though he tried to hide his fear by confusion, it was evident. However, the two adults didn't seem to notice his hidden expression by the worry consumed on their faces.

"But I lied to you, over and over again, for a really long time! If I were you guys, I'd be furious," the boy dishearteningly said, hanging his head down in shame as he struggled to meet their eyes. But when he finally decided to look up, expecting to see them now angry with him, the exact opposite was shown. The smiles still remained on their faces, pleased with their youngest child.

"Well, of course, you lied to us we never gave you a reason not to," his mother explained as she stood beside her husband, not at all fazed by the boy's comment.

"All this time we've been yammering about destroying and dissecting ghosts, I would've been terrified too if I were you," Jack exclaimed with a grin as he placed his hand comfortingly on his son's shoulder.

"We love _you, _sweetie," his mother finally said, both adults meaning every word they said. "Whether you're ghost boy or something in between," his father continued, their eyes showing anything but hate.

They were not at all mad at their son for keeping it a secret of them. Even though they were worried about him fighting ghosts all this time, and they believed in always telling the truth, they really _couldn't_ blame him. The stuff they said about ghosts was atrocious, and they were even horrified that their son might not feel comfortable living with them again!

"And I appreciate that, more than you guys will ever know," Danny finally said as he hugged both his parents, soon turning to a group hug. He really wasn't expecting such a reaction from his parents, but he didn't know what to say to express the happiness that swelled within him.

He remembered how hesitant he had been to talk to them a few days back when his identity had been revealed. Although he had been busy with finding the gems for Freakshow, they were on his mind all day long. In the beginning, he had to rely on the comfort of his friends to think straight and not make any rash decisions. He was even planning on running away!

But here he was, hugging both his parents like his life depended on it, fighting back the few tears of happening threatening to spill. After all, he didn't want to cry in front of them and have them get worried, again.

At this point, he didn't care if h got grounded after they get back home, even if it's for the whole summer break. Their acceptance was enough. They even stated that they weren't mad at him for keeping his ghost powers a secret and that he had every right to.

He suddenly froze, carefully pulling back from the group hug with a frown. He almost forgot the reason why he had left his home in the first place. His secret identity! Everybody now knew who he was, it was spread all over the news channel! And in less than a week, it travelled to Hollywood and around the entire planet. They were even fanfics and comics being written about him!

He was still not over how those books he crashed into weren't approved by him first. But that was the least of his worries at the moment.

The G.i.W would be here any minute now along with the police and the rest of the government. DHe predicted that they are currently searching for him and his friends at this exact moment. Not that they knew where he was, there was no way of stopping them from hurting him in Amity Park, his school... even his home! His family and the people he cared about could be in danger just by talking to him!

And he was **not** about to let that happen.

"Danny? Are you okay sweetie?" his mother asked in worry, caressing his raven hair while studying his perplexed face. Just minutes ago, he was beaming with happiness and now he looked like someone had died.

Maddie did not like the look Danny was wearing one bit and looked over to her husband to see him concerned as well. They both shared a look, silently exchanging thoughts. They wanted to go home right now and get some rest, maybe even talk about this further. But right now, they knew their son was tired and needed to sleep. Who knew how long he was awake and the problems he faced without their supervision.

"Mom, dad, I.." Danny stammered, interrupting the tense silence as he slowly lifted the gauntlet up, struggling to maintain composure. He had to erase everybody's memories (except for Sam, Tucker and Jazz). He'd be putting them all in danger if he didn't.

He knew he had to do the right thing, no matter how much he disliked it. He_ really_ didn't want to erase his parent's memories, especially after they had just accepted him. It was like a dream come true! But then again, it will bring no good to have the G.i.W hunt him every minute of his life. Not to mention the crazy fans and unwanted attention he'll be getting. If he had a social life before, he surely wouldn't now.

It really was better this way.

But there was this nagging feeling inside of him that just wouldn't let him. That little voice that told him he was making a mistake, that he **shouldn't**. He _hated_ the voice. It made him look guilty in front of his parents and slightly change his mind.

But he _should_. And to make sure he wouldn't regret it, it'll have to be quick.

_'Get a grip of yourself,'_ Danny angrily thought to himself as he closed his eyes and lifted the gauntlet a little higher, ready to deliver the blow...

"Danny!" he heard his name, causing him to gasp and open his eyes, breaking him out of his trance. He couldn't focus anymore. He turned to his right to see both of his best-friends, soaked in water, running towards him. The two engulfed him in a group hug, clutching tightly onto the poor boy who had no idea what was going on.

"I don't know if it's me or you guys who have been grabbed the most these few days," Danny joked, startled by the sudden force but hugged them back wearing a warm smile. He had been busy worrying about his parents that he hadn't realized his friends were watching him the whole time.

The two friends finally pulled back, relieved to see their friend okay and well from the impact of the fight with Freakshow. What he did back there sure gave them a heart attack!

"Man, I'm so glad to see you okay!" Tucker exclaimed with a grin, relieved that his friend didn't sustain any major damage. This trip was turning out to be the craziest one yet!

"Don't you dare do that ever again," Sam growled as she glared at the half-ghost in front of her, causing him to scratch the back of his neck nervously. Danny totally forgot that his friends were very protective of him, and that stunt Freakshow pulled, turning him into Jello while the rollercoaster ran over him surely got his friends worried.

"Chillax guys, I'm fine, see?" he said, stretching his arms and legs to prove to them that he really was okay before standing up again and giving a toothy grin. "Plus, I've been through worse before."

Danny made sure to say the last statement in a quieter tone, acknowledging that his parents were not that far from them. He didn't want to worry his parents again and cause them to put new rules for his ghosthunting. That would reek!_ Not that it would matter a few minutes from now..._

Sam sighed of relief, glad to see that her friend really was okay. She then turned to face Danny's parents with a sweet smile on her face. "Mr. and Mrs. Fenton, can we borrow Danny for a few minutes? We'd like to talk to him for a few minutes and make sure he's well."

"No problem, kiddo," Jack said with a smile and shrugged, turning to his wife who gave a slight nod. "We'll be talking to your parents on some things and we'd prefer that you kids don't get yourselves involved in such boring adult talks."

"You three go get some air, we'll come to get you when we're finished," Maddie continued as the trio nodded, taking this as the perfect chance to talk about what they were meaning to say from the beginning.

Maddie smiled and kissed her son's forehead one more time before leaving the teenagers alone, Jack following behind her. When the trio was sure that they had a good amount of space between them, Tucker was the first to speak.

"Well, what an interesting and hectic day! All this action has made me hungry, I say we go grab some ribs and-"

"What the heck were you thinking, Danny?" Sam yelled as the two boys flinched at her tone, clearly not expecting the sudden outburst. Their female friend can be sometimes scary when she's mad.

"What are you talking about?" the confused hybrid asked, frowning. Why did she get so angry all of a sudden? She was smiling just minutes ago!

"_That,_" she said pointing at the gauntlet the boy was still wearing. "Don't tell me you were gonna use it! We're all aware of its power and knowing you, I'm sure you'd like to change reality with the current state of things."

"That's exactly what I was going to do," he replied firmly, clutching his fists. "You know what happened when my identity got revealed! In case you hadn't noticed, we were being bombarded by people wherever we went. And the G.i.W tried to blast us! Or have you forgotten?!" he angrily exclaimed as Sam sighed, crossing her arms.

"Yes, I do remember Danny. I was there and I saw what happened to_ all_ three of us. But I also saw **that**," she said, pointing to the group of adults talking near the stadium. Specifically, his parents.

"Your main problem was your parents, correct? You kept muttering about how angry they must be and the possibility of them hunting you down. But look, they did the exact opposite! They accepted you, Danny, just like us, and your sister. They didn't care who or what you are, because they love you. And you know that" the female pointed out as Danny's angry expression faltered, making him look away.

"Y-yeah I know! And I really appreciate it, more than they can imagine..." he softly said as Tucker smiled at his friend.

"Wouldn't it be better now? I mean, I'm sure they have the right to know that their son is half-ghost! The only thing that was preventing you from telling them the truth in the past was the fact that they might reject you. And now, they'll be careful with the ghost equipment they invent with you around. Not to mention the extra help you'll get. No more stressing over curfews and strict chores; you'll be able to use ghosthunting as an excuse," Tucker mentioned with a smirk as Danny stood silently, pondering over what his friends had just said.

His parents weren't the problem, no. In fact, it was a good thing that they knew about his secret and that he didn't need to hide it from them anymore. No, no it wasn't that.

But it wasn't the fans or the attention either. They liked him, and if things got extreme, he knew his best friends will be there for him. Plus, it was summer break and he wouldn't be back to school for another two months. By then, he hoped they would've calmed down and maybe forgotten. So it wasn't that either. He could handle a few fans then and there.

It wasn't any of those. It was_ them_.

**The G.i.W**

_Everything seems to be _**_their_**_ fault,_ Danny angrily thought to himself, recalling the many times they had prevented him from doing his job. Even on the day Freakshow appeared, they managed to let him get away, hell they were the ones who accidentally freed him! And it was all _their _fault he was in this situation in the first place.

_But then, he wouldn't have been able to find out his parents loved him for who he was._

"Danny?" Sam asked hesitantly. She was unsure as to why the boy had suddenly turned silent. She thought he would've argued more, or maybe added a sarcastic remark. But he was just quiet. She wanted to know why.

"What are you thinking about?" Tucker asked, reading Sam's mind as Danny lifted his head up to answer their concerns.

"What about the G.i.W?" he soberly asked, now Sam's turn to go quiet. She didn't know how to answer it. It seemed like his only concern was them now. If only they had a solution-

"Not to sound like an absolute genius, but Danny, you're holding one of the most dangerous and ultimate weapons of the earth," Tucker dryly stated as his two friends looked at him in confusion, causing him to roll his eyes. Were they really _that _dense? "Um, hello? Change reality? Get the G.i.W to stop hunting you?"

Danny's eyes lightened, now full of hope and grinning at the gauntlet on his hand. Why hadn't he thought of it before?! He didn't _need_ to erase everybody's memories, not even the G.i.W!

"I can just make them forget about me, or just ignore me!" he finally said with a relieved smile as Sam grinned at the idea and Tucker sighed of relief.

"Phew, you both finally caught on. I thought you guys must've lost your brains or- OW what was that for?" Tucker exclaimed at the sudden jab on his shoulder, glaring at the goth for instilling pain.

"For making fun of us. You know how tired we all are, I'm sure we would've thought about it sooner or later," Sam rolled her eyes and smirked at the techno-geek who shot her another glare.

"It was just a joke! Jeez, do you always have to be this violent?" Tucker said with a frown as the goth shrugged, the amused expression still lingering on her face. Danny just chuckled at his friends' behaviour but didn't comment on it, still happy about the sudden realization of not having to erase anybody's memories.

That's right! I don't need to change anyone, except the GiW! We'll head back home and then-

"Danny boy! Are you finished talking to your friends? It's getting late and we all want to get back home," Jack's voice boomed, interrupting Danny's thought. The three teens nodded as the adults approached them, each telling their kid that they'll talk about the situation later.

Danny sighed when he noticed how Sam's parents seemed to be wary of him, frowning at him every now and then. But he really couldn't blame them. After all, they were still not over that time they skipped school. Nor the fact that now he's a ghost and responsible for their kidnapping.

But Danny didn't let that bother him, he would talk to Sam about it later. Right now, everybody was tired after the trip and definitely hungry!

"Um, dad? How are we going to get back home?" Jazz asked with a frown. They were practically in the middle of nowhere, with no humans or transportation! How on earth were they supposed to head back home?

However, Jack just smiled. "I'll just call the blimp! I always knew that something like this was to happen so I made sure to always have the remote with me," he grinned causing all the adults, and Jazz, to sigh of relief. However, the three younger teens were nervously scratching their arms.

"Who wants to tell him?" Tucker whispered to Danny and Sam who both stared at each other in worry. They all knew what happened to the blimp, it had been destroyed on their way to Florida. But none of them were ready to tell Jack that.

"Hey, dad?" Danny hesitantly said, knowing that his two friends wouldn't volunteer to share, "We can't use your blimp... it kinda got destroyed on our way to save you guys."

Jack frowned but Maddie quickly interrupted her husband from what he was going to say next. "That's okay! We'll just call a taxi or someone to pick us up."

The adults nodded at the idea while the trio just sighed.

"Do you think there's signal here?" Tucker whispered again to which both teens glared at him.

"Hopefully," Danny muttered. He was _not_ looking forward to walking back home.

* * *

The trio had just returned from their trip and as promised, all had gone back to their homes and slept for the remainder of the day. They were tired and knew that the next day would also be exhausting; Danny had wanted to use the gauntlet and deal with the G.i.W, police and fans. He didn't think he could stall the issue for long.

The following day, Sam and Tucker went to visit their friend. They knew he probably wouldn't want to go out after all that happened, especially when everybody knew where Danny Phantom lived. Luckily, the police nor the G.i.W had shown up, **yet**. It was only a matter of time when they burst through their door with ecto-weapons.

Danny sighed out of relief when he saw that the people knocking on his house were none other than his friends. He would've hated to see a mob of people who either loved him or detested him waiting outside his house!

"Come in," the paranoid teen quickly ushered them in, Tucker and Sam amused at how he was acting. You'd think he had been smuggling them drugs.

"You don't have to worry, nobody saw us coming here," Sam assured her friend.

"Yeah, but they already know where I live now, they don't have to follow you guys," Danny muttered, walking over to the kitchen and taking a seat at the dining table, his two friends doing the same.

"True, but everybody except for our parents know that you are here. Everybody else thinks you're missing," Tucker pointed out. The hybrid nodded, understanding what his friends meant. But he couldn't help but be worried.

Things were too quiet at Amity Park. Nobody was out scanning his house, including news reporters, government agents and the police. Not to mention, not a single ghost was in sight; were they busy? Or perhaps relishing the pain he was in? Either way, he was glad he didn't need to show up to suck them back into the thermos.

"You guys don't think it's weird that there's nobody out scoping for us?" Danny asked nervously. Sam and Tucker looked at each other, nodding their heads.

"Well, yeah... But shouldn't that be a good thing? I mean, we kinda need you invisible, until you fix the situation between the government agents and police," Tucker said and Sam nodded in agreement.

"He's right. Plus, I'm afraid that my parents might've already told everybody about your arrival; I tried convincing them that it's a bad idea, but there's nothing I can do with two adults who love gossip," she muttered as Danny nodded but suddenly got up from his seat.

"Then I guess I should head out now and get it over with," he grinned, transforming into Phantom in a blink of an eye and shooting up through the ceiling. His two friends quickly hurried out the door to catch him already waiting for them outside.

"Do you always have to do that?" Tucker crossed his arms in annoyance.

"Nope," Danny said, the grin still not wavering. "But it makes me feel better."

"Aren't you going to tell your parents?" Sam asked in worry, knowing that the G.i.W were dangerous, and there's no saying what they could do to her ghost friend if they got their hands on him. Danny noticed her worried for him and smiled warmly.

"I'll be fine, Jazz said she'll tell them. If it makes you feel any better, you guys can come with me and just scope for any danger outside their place," he said, raising an eyebrow at seeing their determined faces.

"We were gonna do that _before_ you told us. We're not letting you enter the lion's den without precautions" Tucker firmly said.

"What are you talking about?** I** -I mean **we**\- are going with you, whether you like it or not," Sam stated, seriousness written all over her face. Danny picked his two friends up and turned them invisible, now flying towards the headquarters.

"Yeah, that's a terrible idea. They'll just use you guys against me to get what they want," Danny answered dryly, shaking his idea at what his friend suggested. There was no way he'll let them go in.

"So you expect us to let you go in, alone, with nothing to defend yourself against?" Sam shot back, while Tucker just stayed quiet watching the argument unfold. He didn't know whether to stop them or just watch amused.

"Um, ghost powers? Duh. I've managed to handle them before, it's no different now," Danny stated with a grin as Sam sighed and turned her head away, staring at nothing in particular. She just pretended to observe the scenery to hide the hurt obvious in her face.

However, Danny noticed that his friend was upset and tried to comfort her. "Look, Sam, I don't want to put you guys at risk at being almost killed again. I saw you sacrifice your lives about five times this week! Do you know how that makes me feel?!"

Sam turned back to face him, a solemn expression on her face, letting him continue his rant. "I've watched you guys always come to my rescue no matter the consequences. I saw how my involvement in ghosts has put your lives in danger. You two were the first to get hurt every time one of my enemies decided to show up," he continued. "Don't you see?! I.."

Danny looked at both his friends before staring blankly at the ground, his pace now slower. "I... I'm afraid of losing you, _both_ of you."

The trio remained silent for the rest of the trip, and Danny didn't know whether to be glad or not. He mistook it for the fact that he was right about what he said and that his relationship with them has ruined their lives.

But what he didn't know was that his two friends were feeling extremely guilty, and were at loss for his friends. They believed in the complete opposite of what Danny had said. They didn't know that they had been hurting their friend by just being victims of ghost attacks.

"Danny, you know that's not true," Tucker finally said in a serious tone, all playfulness erased. "Just because of an accident that turned you into a ghost isn't going to ruin our friendship. We know you have a job, and that it's to protect this town, and that's why we help you. We cannot allow you to carry all the weight on your shoulders and just expect us to stand by," he said.

"Correct. You think we don't feel hurt when you get back from a ghost fight all bruised up because we couldn't help you? You think we don't realize the pain you're in from lying to your teachers, classmates and even your parents? Well, you're wrong Danny. Because there's absolutely nothing that's gonna prevent me - **us** from being your friends," Sam continued, staring deeply into her ghost friend's eyes, daring him to look back.

Danny was shocked at his friends' statements and was at loss on how to reply. He was glad that they didn't think he was a menace or a burden on them, and especially glad they will always be his friends. But he was still worried about them.

"I, wow. Thank you guys, I really don't know what I would've done if I didn't have you guys by my side," Danny sincerely said, smiling at both teens. "But please, just be more careful next time, I don't think I can afford to lose you," he said but in a brighter tone replied, "plus, who's gonna help me get out of the Fenton thermos when Jazz stuffs me in again?"

The trio laughed and Sam replied. "Don't worry, we'll get you out if that happens again."

Danny smiled but then chuckled. "I see. But tell me again, why do you both hang out with a kid with ghost powers?" he asked, gently placing them on the ground upon reaching the headquarters, making sure to land a good distance between the building.

"Because it's our obligation as your friends to make sure you don't get in trouble," Sam replied with a smirk to which the hybrid rolled his eyes.

"What she said. We're your friends and part of our job is to make sure you're okay," Tucker stated with a grin. "Plus, Sam has a crush on yo**\- **_on safety!_ And she's the type to always look out for people," he corrected himself.

Tucker nervously glanced at Sam who had a hard glare on him, wanting no more than to strangle the boy in front of her. She couldn't believe he had been _this_ close to exposing her!

_'Smooth Foley'_ she mouthed to the techno-geek as he shrugged with a nervous smile. But luckily, Danny hadn't noticed anything weird with what Tucker had said nor noticed the odd behaviour between his two best friends. Instead, he just nodded with a smile and turned to spy on the guards in front of the door.

"See? Clueless as ever," Tucker whispered to Sam as she rolled her eyes but didn't comment further on the matter and just observed Danny who seemed to be calculating how he was going to get in.

"Alright guys, I'll just slip in without them noticing by going intangible," Danny stated, floating.

"But won't they sense your presence the minute you fly in?" Sam asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, yeah. But I'm not sneaking in there and taking something," Danny said, pausing for a bit. "I'd rather not waste my energy on fights against them and get straight ti the point," he said.

"Are you sure you don't need any-" before Tucker would continue, Danny had already turned invisible slipped through the doors, "...help."

Sam sighed tiredly, but then, remembering what Tucker had said minutes ago, punched his arm.

"Ow! What was that for?" he yelled in annoyance, rubbing his arm in pain.

"Oh, you know what! 'Sam has a crush on safety'. What was that? If I weren't so worried right now I would've stuffed some veggies in your mouth," she growled, gazing from behind the bushes at the guarded doors.

"I'm sorry, it just slipped! But can you please lower the amount of pressure you put in punching me? My arm hurts," the boy grumbled, also turning to look in front of him.

Instead of replying to the techno-geek, the goth just glanced at the bird that managed to land a metre in front of them. "I.. I'm sorry, Tucker. I shouldn't have snapped on you. I'm just... upset, and worried about Danny. I can't believe we have to wait here, without being able to communicate with him."

Sam wished she had the Fenton earphones with her at this very moment. Not only did they look good on her, but they were a great form of contacting her friend who may be in trouble right now!

"Don't worry, Sam. I'm sure Danny's fine, he can handle this himself, can't he? If he was unsure of facing those agents he would've called us to help," the boy comforted to calm down the goth, knowing she was worried about the GiW catching Danny. And he couldn't blame her, he was worried too!

**"But we've got to trust him."**

Sam nodded at her friend's statement, realizing he was right. Instead of moping around, they'll just wait and believe that the ghost can take care of the problem himself.

Meanwhile, Danny had gotten into the building fairly easily, and it didn't take him much time until he reached their base.

The first thing he'd noticed upon his arrival was the alarm going off, indicating a sign of ecto-energy. Danny immediately knew it had to do about him and didn't seem fazed by the scurrying agents. In fact, the ghost only grinned and revealed himself to them.

'Ecto energy detected,' he heard to system say. The agents were too consumed with the alarm going off that they had failed to see Danny floating on top of them.

"There's been a huge surge of-" before Agent k could continue with what he was going to say, Danny descended to the ground and flew close to them, a good amount of distance between. The agents that he recognized before quickly drew their weapons and Danny smirked.

"Nu-uh," he said, raising the gauntlet and changing their ecto guns to a french horn and a chicken. "Here's a gift," he continued with a grin, tossing the Fenton thermos over to the GiW.

Before they could question what was inside the thermos, the content inside was released, revealing a severely deformed ghost aka Freakshow. However, Danny solved the mild problem by changing him back to his human self with a lift of his hand.

Freakshow dazedly rubbed his forehead and confusingly scanned his surroundings only to be met with horror. To his misfortune, he wasn't where he'd liked to have been.

_'Blasts! He brought me back here,'_ Freakshow angrily thought, glaring at the floating teen. If only he were a ghost, he'd turn invisible this instance and fly out of here!

Danny smiled upon seeing Freakshow get handcuffed and was about to leave when he remembered the main reason he'd decided to come here.

"Oh, and," Danny stopped, turning back around and facing the agents seriously, "Danny Phantom is not who you're looking for. Danny Phantom is your ally, not your enemy. Leave Daniel Fenton and his family and friends alone."

The power emitted from the gauntlet at this statement glowed a tranquil blue, surrounding the people in and out of the building. Danny waited to see if it really worked and fortunately, it did. The agents stumbled for a bit with their eyes closed before rubbing them and looking at him confused.

Deciding that his job there is done, Danny sighed of relief and flew across the walls to the back of the headquarters where his friends were waiting for him. He smiled, spotting them hiding behind the bushes and turned to look right in front of the guards.

Sam and Tucker smiled back upon seeing their friend okay and not hurt, but their eyes immediately widened when they saw him standing right in front of the agents with the ecto guns...

"Everything all right gentlemen?" Danny asked the guards as they nodded.

"All is well, Phantom," they replied with a nod as the ghost grinned and nodded back, flying over to his friends who's expressions were priceless.

"What?" Danny asked with a light smirked.

"You.. they-they didn't... but-" Tucker sputtered out in confusion as Sam just smiled at her friend silently. Did it actually work?

"Is something the matter, Tuck?" Danny asked again innocently.

"Well, you did it all right. I'm gonna be honest, I wasn't sure if that gauntlet was gonna work..." Sam stared at the item on Danny's arm apprehensively as Tucker nodded, finally grinning.

"Man, congrats on being GiW free! Now all of your problems have been solved," he exclaimed as Danny's smile melted into a frown.

"I wouldn't say _all_. I still have to go back to school tomorrow to empty out my locker and I'm 100% sure there's going to be many of the students there. not to mention, there's Valerie..." Danny said, tapping his chin thoughtfully. "I'm not sure if she'll ever talk to me again, as Fenton. Or if she hates me now."

Sam nodded, recalling the fact that the teachers asked them to come to clean up their lockers after school had finished rather than emptying it all out on the last week. It was bothersome, really, especially since it was rescheduled on Monday. They weren't going to come back and clean up the lockers since they were supposed to be on their trip then.

"Don't worry, Danny. I'm sure things will work out between you two. Plus, I'm sure that after you wear my newest spray that I made, she'll-"

"-probably throw up. It's horrendous! Danny, if you want any girl to ever stand at least 5 ft close to you, please don't listen to Tucker," she pointed out as the boy glared at her.

"Thanks for the offer, Tuck, but I'll pass. Valerie's not the type to be swayed by perfume," Danny laughed.

"Well, if you ever change your mind, you know who to call," he said with a wink before his eyes suddenly brightened. "Oh, I almost forgot! I already told Sam about this on our way to your house and with everything going on, it slipped my mind," he said.

The half-ghost raised an eyebrow, intrigued to what his friend had to say, "What is it?"

"Well, my parents ask you and your parents, along with Sam's to come over to our house for a nice dinner together on Monday. They want to have a chance to thank you for yesterday and saving us, Tucker explained and continued. "Plus, **we** thought it will be a good idea to start all over again and get to know each other better."

Danny transformed back to his human self and the trio started walking back to their houses. Sam sighed, kicking a pebble on the sidewalk.

"Even though my parents accepted your invitation, they're still not quite fond of you.. and your parents," she said hesitantly with a hidden sad tone in her voice. "Even though you saved our lives back there, they're too proud to admit it."

"After I caused all of our parents to be the situation," Danny pointed out as Tucker rolled his eyes.

"Dude, we already went over this, it's **not** your fault. Now, I don't care what adult problems there's going to be but we're going to solve it like civilized... adults," the techno-geek grinned, "and we're going to enjoy a nice dinner of my mom's meatloaf- and a quinoa salad for Sam."

The goth grinned satisfied and both teenage boys rolled their eyes but kept on smiling all the way back home.

* * *

"You guys do realize I can just phase the junk out of our lockers without needing to step into school?" Danny dryly said, nervously rubbing the back of his neck.

"Or we can pretend nothing ever happened and walk in there, quickly pack our stuff and exit calmly," Sam suggested as Tucker nodded excitedly, clutching his PDA.

"I'm gonna have to agree with Sam on this one," he said and then grinned. "Plus, I'm excited to see the reactions of everyone!"

"Yeah, I'm not," Danny muttered, "my legs feel weak, I don't think I can walk in there and just pretend everything's normal."

"You literally saw how everybody reacted when they found out about your identity, they even helped us get away from the GiW. Now go give your weak legs some exercise," Sam teased, pushing the half-ghost, urging him to walk forward. Danny sighed but obeyed and walked into the school doors with his friends by his side.

At first, nobody had noticed Danny as they were too busy talking to their friends about their summer plans and emptying out the lockers. However, Danny had his shirt covering half face to which people thought it was weird until they recognized who he was.

"Oh my god, they're looking at me," he whispered to Sam and she rolled her eyes.

"We would've safely walked to our lockers if you hadn't embarrassed yourself," she dryly said, pulling her friend's shirt back down. "Now just calm down-"

"Guys look! It's Danny Phantom!" someone yelled from behind him and in an instant, all eyes were on him. Danny rolled his eyes at Sam and increased his walking pace.

_'Calm down, huh. Literally everybody knows I'm here now!'_ Danny thought to himself in annoyance as his friends followed along till they reached their lockers. At this point, all the students were huddled around him, and more kept on coming!

Just like that, the pupils of Casper High had stopped what they were doing just to talk about him and Danny didn't know whether it was a good or bad thing. On one hand, he didn't like the attention everyone was giving, mostly due to the fact that his human half wasn't used to it. On another hand, he didn't mind too much as long as they gave him his personal space.

"Yo Phantom! Can you transform into a ghost for us?" someone in the crowd yelled out as shouts of agreement exploded while Danny silently groaned.

"Still think this was a great idea?" he dryly asked, facing Sam who didn't seem fazed about the situation. The two friends merely grinned nervously which made Danny roll his eyes. They were very helpful indeed.

'Alright, this is starting to get out of hand,' Danny thought as the crowd got bigger and the screams louder to the point where he couldn't hear himself anymore. Although his two best friends were doing a nice job of guarding him while he stuffed his belongings from his locker into his bag, they couldn't stall them for long. He needed to think of something and fast before Sam and Tucker's defence breaks.

"Make sure you grab our stuff too while you're at it, we'll keep blocking them," Sam said looking with worry at the buzzing students in front of her. If she knew this was gonna happen, she would've agreed with Danny's idea of him turning invisible and getting the stuff instead. But it was too late now.

However, the teen ghost had just gotten an idea and turned to face his fans with a bright smile. "Or I can just ask them to leave," he whispered to his friends.

"I don't think plainly asking them is going to work," Tucker pointed out.

"We'll see," Danny simply replied as he loudly clapped his hands, trying to get everybody's attention. "Hey, people! Listen up, I want to make a request."

The chatters quickly quieted down until the whole hallway was dead silent. "Okay, neat! So um, I was wondering if you could let me just get my stuff from my locker and uh, leave?"

"_Smooth,_ Fenton," Sam whispered in a dry tone as the crowd went back to loud cheers, completely disregarding Danny's statement seconds ago.

"Why didn't you tell us you were Phantom?"

"How long were you a ghost for?"

"How did you turn into a ghost?"

"Why did you disappear last week?"

"So are you a half-ghost?"

"Okay then, off to Plan B," Danny muttered to himself, calling the students in front of him again with a tired smile, "Hey! I wasn't finished talking yet, hear me out. I want to propose a deal..."

Upon hearing about a deal, the teens loud hollars died down again, now intrigued to hear what he was going to say next.

"Okay, so you guys wanna see me transform, right?" Danny asked as everybody nodded eagerly, waiting to hear the rest. "Well, I will as long as you guys leave us alone afterwards-"

Before the poor boy could finish what he was about to say, cheers erupted and he sighed, deciding to go by with the plan. he transformed to his ghost half and floated, giving a short break for Sam and Tucker; they'd been holding the crowd for a while now.

The students gasped, the shock still evident in their faces. They really couldn't believe that all this time, Phantom had been just another student in their school, and specifically someone known to be an outcast and geek.

Others had managed to accept the fact that phantom and Fenton are the same rather quickly after piecing the puzzles together; the tardiness, unfinished homework and assignments, suspicious disappearances during ghost fights. It made sense that Fenton_ is_ Phantom, and their identical first names were the first clue.

Danny had then transformed back, hoping to see that the students lost interest and decided to go back to their lockers but unfortunately, he'd been proven wrong. The cheers became even louder and they tried pushing past his friends to get to him.

In fact, transforming into a ghost only made things worse.

"Nice try, but they're persistent," Tucker commented as Danny sighed heavily, deciding on a different approach. At last, it had come to try Plan C and that meant turning invisible and phasing himself and his friends out of here before things escalated.

However, before Danny could follow his next plan, he heard a loud and familiar voice coming from the back. One he was way_ too_ familiar with.

"Fenton!" Dash yelled, shoving past the students crowded around him, the A-listers following behind me. Before Danny could comprehend what was happening, the jock winked and seemed to say, 'leave it to me.'

Danny stopped what he was going to say and just silently watched as the A-listers pushed the excited students away, finally making space for him and his friends to breathe.

"Listen up, folks. We all know that Danny Fenton is Danny Phantom, but it doesn't give us a right to huddle around and choke him. He's a human too and this attention you're giving him is freaking him out, so I suggest you back off, or else we'll make you," Dash glared at the teens who seemed uneasy by the boy's threat and obeyed, starting to walk back to their lockers.

Aside from the fact that Dash called him Danny, he was surprised to hear what the jock had said. Who knew that his bully would be the one helping him? And even though he had heard Dash say before that he and his friends protected him from the GiW because he did the same thing as a hero, it was still weird to experience it. And he was especially amazed at how everyone had scurried off after the A-listers showed up.

But Dash's threats were never one to mess with.

"I- Wow thanks," Danny finally said after everybody had left except for the jocks and cheerleaders who grinned at him.

"Well, you've been saving our butts since forever! We'd like to return the favour no matter how small it is," Dash had said and looked over at his group. "We kinda came here to apologize actually and tell you something important but I'm guessing you guys have to leave?"

Danny nodded, forgetting he had already packed his stuff and his friends were ready to leave the school. "Yeah.. sorry we wouldn't stay long, we have a dinner party this evening and-"

"Don't apologize we get it," Paulina interrupted, wearing a sweet smile to which Sam rolled her eyes. "We wanted to invite you to the beach tomorrow and were hoping you'd show up," she said and looked over at the two friends beside him. "And you can, of course, invite your friends."

"I'd like that," Danny smiled back but before he could say something back, Paulina quickly leaned over and kissed his cheek, earning a blush, and a glare from Sam.

"See you later," she said with a wink as the A-listers began to walk away, leaving Danny and his friends alone in the hallway.

"How does it feel like getting kissed by the school's hottest cheerleader?" Tucker asked with a grin as Danny blushed again and the goth rolled her eyes disgustedly.

"I am both relieved and revolted at the same time. Let's get out of here," she said as the two boys laughed and followed behind their friend who was already out the door. However, Danny stopped laughing after spotting a certain person, someone he'd been wanting to talk to for a while now; Valerie

"Danny?" Sam asked, concerned after seeing her friend abruptly stop walking. She followed his gaze and soon realized he was staring at the red huntress. She pursed her lips in distaste but didn't say anything else.

"I'll catch up to you guys later, we'll see each other at Tucker's," Danny said as the two friends nodded, knowing he probably needed to talk to Valerie about something important.

The black-haired girl felt someone staring at her and was proven right after noticing the half-ghost. She quickly glanced away and propped on her bike, ready to pedal away.

"Valerie, wait!" Danny yelled, quickly going after her before she disappeared again, like at the concert. She stopped, only because she knew he would chase after her anyway.

When the hybrid finally reached her, he opened his mouth to say something but before he could, he was interrupted. "Why?"

Danny raised an eyebrow at the question. "Why what?"

"Why did you hide this from me?" she asked, hurt written all over her face as Danny felt a wave of guilt wash over him. "Why didn't you tell me that you were Phantom? Why did you let me hunt you?"

"I... I don't know."

"No, goddammit Danny answer me seriously! Why did you continue to hurt yourself?! Why couldn't you tell me the truth? Do you know how much it hurts me to know that I was hunting a guy that I liked?!"

"You.. you like me?" Danny asked, completely disregarding the rest of the conversation as Valerie groaned.

"**No!** I mean _yes_\- I mean... is that all you paid attention to?" she stuttered, looking away from his blue eyes as she sighed and turned back. "Danny, I could've badly hurt you.

"But you didn't," he answered.

"But I **could've**! Maybe even killed you! Why are you the one looking guilty here, I was the one who hunted you every day making your life hell!"

"After I caused your dad to lose his job. Valerie, it was my fault that you ended up in the situation you're in," Danny said, scratching his head nervously. "If I had just controlled Cujo and didn't let him enter that company, everything would be fine now."

"That is true, I would admit it. Yes, you ruined my life and yes, I still hold a grudge against it. But it helped me realize who my true friends are and look at things from a different perspective. I helped save people from ghosts as the red huntress and improve my self-esteem," she said and then looked away shyly, "and I got to know more about you."

"Danny smiled, a slight blush colouring his cheeks as he too looked away. "heh, well I guess this has been an experience for the both of us. Are we still. friends?"

Valerie laughed and lightly punched his shoulder. "Of course we are. Just promise to not hide something like this from me, I don't want to see you hurt** ever** again."

The half smiled and nodded, "I promise."

* * *

**Word Count: 9 089**


End file.
